[2013-12-11] MarketWatch - Fidelity now allows clients to put bitcoins in IRAs

[humanitee]

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/12/11/fidelity-now-allows-clients-to-put-bitcoins-in-iras/
 

Fidelity has partnered with SecondMarket’s Bitcoin Investment Trust to allow its clients to save for their retirement by putting the virtual currency in self-directed IRAs.

“If you are a Fidelity client, you can now invest in the Bitcoin Investment Trust through an IRA,” said Barry Silbert, chief executive of SecondMarket, in an interview.

The Bitcoin Investment Trust is an open-ended trust that launched in late September and only invests in the virtual currency. The trust, which is only open to accredited investors, had $62.6 million in assets under management as of Tuesday.

MarketWatch previously reported that SecondMarket had teamed up with self-directed IRA providers PENSCO, Entrust and Equity Institutional  to allow investors to save for retirement with bitcoin. Fidelity is the largest and most well-known company that SecondMarket has teamed up with for this, Silbert said, adding that he hopes to add a few more providers soon.

An emailed request for comment from Fidelity wasn’t immediately returned.

Bitcoin has become a hot topic of late as its price has skyrocketed, attracting the attention of venture capitalists, regulators and central bankers. Unlike currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, bitcoin doesn’t have a central bank. Instead, the virtual currency is created through a process called mining, in which a computer solves a cryptographic problem.

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[LiteCoinGuy]

Fidelity is a big player, good news!

[goxed]

just WOW! 

[bitbouillion]

Is it really worth the tax advantage in exchange for the private keys?

[PenAndPaper]

Are people really willing to pay all those fees?  I understand they need to make money, but 2% a year off the top as an "Administrative and Safekeeping fee?  That seems a bit much to me.

I wonder if Fidelity adds yet another fee if you invest through an IRA. 

Obviously you have to pay something if you don't want to deal with all the hard time that exchanges give you in order to invest in bitcoins.
Not to mention the learning curve about how bitcoin works.

[StarfishPrime]

This is big news. Fidelity is no small player.

Quite a turn around from their position as recently as six months ago (July 2013).. A few highlights (referring to the proposed Winklevoss ETF fund):

Does the World Need a Bitcoin ETF?

BY ABBY WOODHAM | MORNINGSTAR
07/03/2013 | 61 VIEWS
Related Symbols FB

Earlier this week, Math-Based Asset Services LLC submitted paperwork to the SEC seeking permission to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, perhaps setting the record for one of the most outlandish ETF filings to date.
...
The SEC likely will put this opaque, risky, and illiquid asset under extreme scrutiny. Should the proposed fund beat the odds and make it to launch, the vast majority of investors should avoid it just as much as retailers avoid using bitcoins as payment today.

source: http://research2.fidelity.com/fidelity/commentary/article.asp?dockey=1514-601775-0U64O5P3U8IEPTTJSG5NL4I1NK

[LiteCoinGuy]

From:

https://www.secondmarket.com/company/bitcoin-investment-trust/investment

"Investment Details

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Front End Fee: 1.5% (waived for investments made in 2013)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Administrative and Safekeeping Fee: 2.0%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back End Fee: 1.5%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minimum Investment:$25K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"

Are people really willing to pay all those fees?  I understand they need to make money, but 2% a year off the top as an "Administrative and Safekeeping fee?  That seems a bit much to me.

I wonder if Fidelity adds yet another fee if you invest through an IRA.  

yeah they pay that because until today second markets trust is the only vehicle for professional traders / big money. others will follow second markets model. when you have more competition, fees will be lower.

today BTC is still to complicated for the most people, but that will change.

[empoweoqwj]

SecondMarket are doing great things.

A few more funds like this and the bitcoin price will leapfrog very quickly to $2K to $3K

[miken123]

Wow the comments on the page bottom are scathing. 

[HeliKopterBen]

This is big news. Fidelity is no small player.

Quite a turn around from their position as recently as six months ago (July 2013).. A few highlights (referring to the proposed Winklevoss ETF fund):

Does the World Need a Bitcoin ETF?

BY ABBY WOODHAM | MORNINGSTAR
07/03/2013 | 61 VIEWS
Related Symbols FB

Earlier this week, Math-Based Asset Services LLC submitted paperwork to the SEC seeking permission to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, perhaps setting the record for one of the most outlandish ETF filings to date.
...
The SEC likely will put this opaque, risky, and illiquid asset under extreme scrutiny. Should the proposed fund beat the odds and make it to launch, the vast majority of investors should avoid it just as much as retailers avoid using bitcoins as payment today.

source: http://research2.fidelity.com/fidelity/commentary/article.asp?dockey=1514-601775-0U64O5P3U8IEPTTJSG5NL4I1NK

Investors doing the opposite of her recommendation at the time would now have over a 1300% gain.  I wonder what she actually recommended investing in?

[bitcool]

Not so fast... wet blanket incoming.

Editor’s note posted on Dec. 12: A Fidelity spokesman told MarketWatch on Thursday, Dec. 12, that Fidelity no longer allows bitcoin investments in IRAs. “On an individual basis, we allowed an investor to invest in that Bitcoin Investment Trust. We are no longer allowing that,” said Rob Beauregard, director of public relations at Fidelity. Read our follow-up post here.

[goxed]

wtf! Bummer!

[empoweoqwj]

wtf! Bummer!

Yesterday it was huge news. Today it turns out not to be happening. Welcome to bitcoinland

[LiteCoinGuy]

wtf! Bummer!

Yesterday it was huge news. Today it turns out not to be happening. Welcome to bitcoinland

  a hell of a ride

[kjlimo]

wtf! Bummer!

Yesterday it was huge news. Today it turns out not to be happening. Welcome to bitcoinland

  a hell of a ride

Hah, well it will happen eventually.  Fidelity can say no to bitcoin for only so long...