'Bitcoin Is the Best Risk-Reward Investment Right Now.' Nearly 20% of Millennials Are Adding Crypto to Retirement Portfolios

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.

Bitcoin's run back toward record highs is forcing a question that would've sounded absurd a few years ago. Should cryptocurrency sit next to stocks and bonds in a retirement portfolio?

With Bitcoin now trading around $122,000, nearly double where it stood a year ago, the answer for many younger Americans is already yes. A NerdWallet survey issued in August found that one in ten U.S. adults with retirement accounts holds crypto.

And among Millennials, the figure jumps to 18%, making digital assets one of the fastest-growing categories inside tax-advantaged accounts.

Don't Miss:

Amazon and NVIDIA Partnered With This Robot Chef — Now Individual Investors Can Too Accredited Investors Can Now Tap Into the $36 Trillion Home Equity Market — Without Buying a Single Property

The shift comes as traditional firms and policymakers open the door wider. Places like IRA Financial now let investors buy crypto directly through IRA accounts, and a recent executive order from President Donald Trump cleared the way for alternative assets like Bitcoin inside workplace retirement plans.

The enthusiasm isn't universal, though. Advisors are split between those who view crypto as speculative and those who see it as a legitimate hedge or growth driver. But the tone is changing.

"You have a lot of tremendously smart investors saying that Bitcoin is the best risk-reward investment right now," Joshua Brooks, CFP and founder of Exponential Advisors, told CNBC.

The generational divide helps explain why. Investors in their 20s and 30s, still decades from retirement, are more comfortable allocating a small slice of savings to high-volatility assets that could multiply over time. For them, crypto isn't replacing the 401(k); it's modernizing it.

Trending: If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it?

A New Way to Hold Crypto for the Long Haul

Adding digital assets to a retirement strategy used to require workarounds and third-party custodians. Now, investors can hold cryptocurrency directly through Self-Directed IRAs, keeping full control over trades and tax advantages.

Investors can use a Self-Directed IRA, Solo 401(k), or IRAfi Crypto account to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies inside a regulated retirement structure. Gains grow tax-deferred or tax-free, depending on the account type, and assets are held securely under IRA Financial's custodial oversight.

Story Continues

The benefits mirror what's driving crypto adoption more broadly (liquidity, growth potential, and inflation resilience) but wrapped inside the protections of a retirement account. Investors choose the coins, timing, and strategy, while IRA Financial handles IRS compliance and custody.

As mainstream firms race to catch up, self-directed platforms are giving investors a head start, combining the freedom of crypto with the discipline of retirement planning.

Read Next:

Have $100k+ to invest? Charlie Munger says that's the toughest milestone — don't stall now. Get matched with a fiduciary advisor and keep building Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund Just Backed This Farmland Manager — And Accredited Investors Can Join the Same Fund Image: Shutterstock

This article 'Bitcoin Is the Best Risk-Reward Investment Right Now.' Nearly 20% of Millennials Are Adding Crypto to Retirement Portfolios originally appeared on Benzinga.com

View Comments