Why Longmark exists

A longmark is a distant point you steer toward — a marker on a long road. Retirement is the longest financial road most people walk, and crypto is one of the most volatile things you could carry on it. Longmark exists to keep the two in honest proportion. The crypto IRA category is dominated by marketing that talks up upside and buries the fees; we do the opposite. We put fees and risk first, explain the real mechanics accurately and dated, and answer the question the ads skip: whether a crypto IRA belongs in your retirement at all, and if so, as how small a slice.

What we do

We explain how crypto IRAs work — the self-directed custodian structure, traditional versus Roth, contribution limits, the 59½ lock-up and the tax treatment — and we compare the main US providers on fees first, then supported assets, custody, minimums and account types. We keep two options that pay us nothing right in the comparison — a low-cost spot ETF in a normal IRA, and holding no crypto at all — because a fair comparison has to include the honest cheaper answer. And we spend as much effort on whether a crypto IRA is even a good idea as on which one to pick, because for many readers that is the more valuable question.

What we will not do

We are not financial, tax, investment or retirement advisors, and nothing here is advice. We do not predict prices, we do not tell you which coin to buy, and we never imply that crypto will grow your retirement wealth — no honest guide can promise that, and this is money you cannot afford to be wrong about. We do not run fabricated 'we tested' returns or invented fee tables. We will not promote presale, meme or 'guaranteed-yield' schemes, and we point out high-pressure sales tactics and guaranteed-return claims as the red flags they are. When a search like 'best crypto to buy for retirement' brings someone here, we answer the only responsible version: how to think about risk, fees and structure — not a pick.

How we stay independent

Some outbound links are affiliate links: if you open an account with certain providers after clicking, they may pay us a commission. That funds the research; it never buys a placement or softens our honesty about fees and risk. To keep ourselves accountable, several of the options we recommend on merit — a spot ETF in a normal IRA, Alto CryptoIRA (whose referral program ended in 2024), and simply holding no crypto — pay us nothing at all. Our full affiliate disclosure lays out exactly who pays us and what it does not change. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any provider named on this site, and their trademarks are used nominatively, for identification only.

How our facts are dated

Fees, minimums, coin lists, contribution limits and tax rules all change, so everything here is written for the 2025 tax year, US-focused unless noted, and last checked 10 September 2026. Where a rule is settled — crypto held in an IRA sits inside the same tax wrapper, early withdrawals before 59½ generally carry a penalty — we state it plainly; where a number moves year to year, we date it and tell you to confirm the current figure. Where a provider does not publish a fee, we say so rather than guess. Spot something stale? Tell us — accuracy is the whole product.