Swan Bitcoin Review

Trade Bitcoin with competitive trading fees in a personal or tax-advantaged IRA.

Private client services are also available with dedicated personalized service, exclusive insights, and events.

Find out about the trading options, fees, and member perks with this Swan Bitcoin review.

The Verdict for Swan Bitcoin

I’ve given them a rating of 9.1 out of 10.

Criteria	Rating (out of 10)
Cryptocurrencies Supported	8
Pricing & Fees	9
Storage & Security	9.5
Account Setup & Maintenance	9
Resources & Tools	9.5
Reputation & Reviews	9
Customer Service & Support	9
Overall Rating	9.1

In this review of Swan Bitcoin, I’ve followed BIC’s detailed criteria for evaluating the Bitcoin IRA platform.

About Swan Bitcoin

Swan Bitcoin was founded in 2019 by Cory Klippsten so that investors can trade Bitcoin with an easy-to-use and secure platform, low fees, and personalized help.

The Calabasas, California-based platform provides tax-advantaged IRAs, taxable trading accounts, and private client services in all 50 U.S. states.  

One of Klippsten’s visions for this company is to help over 10 million people hold at least some cryptocurrency in their investment portfolio.

This threshold means approximately 3% of the nation’s population will invest in Bitcoin.

Ultimately, it helps the digital currency become a credible, long-term investment and store of wealth.

There are no minimum balance requirements for a Swan Bitcoin IRA or a trading account.

Removing this entry barrier makes starting a small allocation and managing portfolio risk easy.

The private client service is also available to investors with over $100,000 in assets. Customers will get a dedicated representative to assist with IRA and taxable trades.

I like the many account types and premium services to help investors with small or established portfolios.

For ultimate security, it also emphasizes self-custody for personal accounts to prevent scams and distrust.

Cryptocurrencies Supported

True to its name, Swan Bitcoin is a Bitcoin-only platform. As a result, people who want to buy Ethereum and other leading altcoins in the same portfolio will need to use a different service.

This simplicity can boost confidence for new investors and people who don’t want to constantly monitor their portfolio and trade the crypto cycles to profit.

A single investment option is a rarity among the best cryptocurrency IRAs, as the vast majority support over a dozen altcoins in addition to the original crypto token.

Some customer reviews indicate this frustration, but choose Swan because of its hands-on support.

Overall, I appreciate this platform specializes in Bitcoin which is the “gold standard” of crypto as it tends to have greater stability, more liquidity, and less scam-prone versus altcoins.

Additionally, altcoins are substantially riskier and susceptible to scams. 

However, select Bitcoin alternatives can have more upside potential as fewer investors hold them, but have increasing demand and a growing market cap.

The inability to diversify your portfolio by holding multiple tokens means having to open multiple crypto IRAs.

Prices & Fees

The fees and minimums are very reasonable for an IRA or personal account, although the monthly service fee is expensive for small retirement balances.

Minimum Investment	$0
Bitcoin Trading Fee	0.99% (after the first $10,000)
IRA Setup Fee	$0
IRA Service Fees	$20/month for accounts below $100,000 or 0.25% annually for accounts above $100,000
Personal Account Service Fees	$0
Withdrawals to Self-Custody Wallets	$0

Swan Bitcoin is currently waiving trading fees for the first $10,000 in transactions for new customers.

Existing customers enjoy commission-free trading on their next $10,000.

There are no additional fees for Swan Private, although you need a minimum $100,000 portfolio balance ($400,000 for international investors).

Trading, IRA, family office, and business accounts can participate. Further, you can also use Swan Vault to self-custody your taxable assets with a multi-signature wallet.

Custody fees are $20/month on balances below $100,000 and 0.02% on wallets above $100,000. 

Storage & Security

Per IRS rules, a third-party custodian must store crypto assets you purchase using a self-directed IRA.

Swan Bitcoin IRAs use Equity Trust Company (ETC) for custody services.

ETC is one of the most-used IRA custodians with over 50 years of experience and coordinates withdrawals and tax-compliant record keeping.

BitGo provides vault custody storage for Swan IRA, personal, and business customers.

The multi-signature security protocols require you, BitGo, and Equity Trust to approve transactions. 

IRA security benefits include:

• Up to $250 million in custody insurance
• FDIC-insured cash balances
• Multi-signature wallet protection
• Cold storage

If you also open a trading account and use Swan Vault, you will receive two Jade signing devices.

These hardware wallets allow you to self-store your crypto tokens and verify that only you can access your keys offline.

Unfortunately, Vault accounts are uninsured.

Account Setup & Maintenance

You can open a Swan IRA nationwide with just a few steps:

1. Enroll: You can start the enrollment process from the web platform and Android or iOS mobile app. It’s free and there are no setup fees or minimum investments.
2. Choose account type: You can open a traditional or Roth crypto IRA. Personal trading accounts are also available along with private client services for high net worth individuals and businesses. 
3. Transfer funds: You can roll over a 401(k), IRA, or existing employer plans. An IRA specialist assists when depositing at least $50,000. IRA transfers usually take between 1 to 2 weeks and 3 to 4 weeks for rollovers. You can also add new money by ACH or wire transfer up to your annual IRA contribution limits.
4. In-kind and partial transfers: Existing Bitcoin IRAs are eligible for in-kind transfers, so you won’t have to sell your existing BTC positions first. The platform also supports partial transfers if you don’t want to sell non-supported investment assets.  
5. Third-party custody: Your IRA holdings are held with a partner custodian in your legal title for tax-advantaged investing and the corresponding service fee applies. You can buy or sell as you see desire penalty-free and only pay a trading fee. 
6. Liquidation: When it’s time to liquidate, you can transfer your tokens to a Swan personal or vault account, or your personal storage wallet. 

Once your portfolio value surpasses $100,000, you may consider upgrading to Swan Private.

You will receive research and trading assistance from a dedicated representative.

Resources & Tools

Swan Bitcoin offers several insightful educational resources for new and experienced cryptocurrency investors.

I find this commentary to be more extensive than most crypto IRAs.

First, beginners can benefit from a free one-hour digital course to learn the basics of investing in Bitcoin.

You will also find educational articles, YouTube videos, and podcasts. 

Established investors eligible for Swan Private will enjoy hands-on help from a dedicated representative in a hands-off industry.

Individuals, family offices, and businesses can benefit from exclusive benefits, such as:

• 24/7 personalized service
• Exclusive monthly webinars and digital magazine
• Meetups in the greater Los Angeles area and worldwide
• Transparent price quotes
• Institutional-level liquidity for large orders
• Predefined recurring buys
• Tax-loss harvesting
• “Nakamoto Portfolio” investment research tools
• Inheritance and estate planning  

This private concierge is a unique benefit you won’t find with other crypto IRA providers.

It’s worth considering if you’re comfortable with a Bitcoin-only portfolio.

Still, you don’t need to be a “Bitcoin maximalist” who only invests in the oldest cryptocurrency for various reasons.

Reputation & Reviews

Most Swan Bitcoin IRA reviews are positive across Trustpilot, Apple App Store, and Google Play.

Customers appreciate the transparent pricing, easy-to-use trading dashboard, and attentive customer service agents.

Several reviews also praise the emphasis on self-custody.

Common complaints include a slow withdrawal process for non-retirement accounts due to the multi-layer security protocols.

Additionally, abruptly switching IRA custodians from Fortress Trust to Equity Trust in late 2024 garnered negative feedback.

While there are several thousand reviews across the various consumer rating platforms, Swan Capital has no customer ratings with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Moreover, it’s not BBB-accredited, although it closed complaints within a reasonable period.

Customer Service & Support

Email and online support tickets are the default contact method, with most responses happening within 24 hours.

Phone support is limited, although private clients have 24/7 availability. 

Other platforms have more widely available live support, although customer reviews consistently reiterate an excellent quality of service.

Swan Bitcoin Alternatives

These leading crypto IRA companies offer more investment options and competitive fees if you want a more diverse portfolio.

You may also prefer investing through an older platform.

Bitcoin IRA

Bitcoin IRA supports over 60 cryptocurrencies for one of the most diverse investment selections.

Your account is eligible for up to $250 million in insurance with 100% offline military-grade security. However, you may encounter pricier setup, trading, and maintenance fees. 

Open a Bitcoin IRA account in just 3 minutes!

iTrustCapital

iTrustCapital offers over 45 cryptos along with fractional gold and silver. The minimum investment is $1,000, but you won’t pay IRA maintenance fees, which will help you save money.

The crypto trading fee is a similar 1% to buy or sell.

Open an account with iTrustCapital today

BitIRA

BitIRA has just over 15 cryptocurrencies for buying or selling and a 1% trading fee.

There are no account service fees, and an IRA specialist can help you fund your account using existing portfolios or new money.

Get a free Ledger Nano from BitIRA

Is Swan Bitcoin safe and a company I can trust?

Swan Bitcoin is an excellent platform for buying Bitcoin in an IRA or trading account.

It’s one of the best services for accounts exceeding $100,000 for exclusive private client benefits that competing crypto exchanges and IRA providers don’t offer.

However, you may pursue another platform if you don’t want a Bitcoin-only IRA or have a small balance and want to avoid the $20 monthly IRA service fee.

Start buying Bitcoin today with Swan Bitcoin.

FAQs