CLEVELAND, Sept. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Equity Trust Company announced today that investors can now invest in Stellar and Zcash through the Equity Trust Digital Asset Platform.
"We continually listen to our customers and respond based on their interests," said Dave Allen, Chief Operating Officer of Equity Trust Company. "We're pleased to offer our clients more choices and the opportunity to diversify within cryptocurrencies."
Investors can now own up to eight cryptocurrencies in their self-directed IRA account through the platform, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple, in addition to Stellar and Zcash.
The Equity Trust Digital Asset Platform allows investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies within tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
As long as IRS guidelines are followed, investment gains from digital currency generated in the IRA may be tax-deferred, a potential benefit and differentiator for those investing in digital currency. In July 2019 the IRS sent letters to cryptocurrency users reminding them of their obligations to file returns based on past investment gains. If their investments were made through an IRA though, taxes could have possibly been mitigated or deferred until retirement.
In addition to offering a variety of eight popular currencies, the Digital Asset Platform simplifies the investment process by providing an easy-to-use interface enabling both individual investors and institutional partners, on behalf of their clients, to instantly place orders for digital currency using tax-advantaged funds from IRAs.
"We are receiving a positive response from the market to our user-friendly platform, which enables clients to buy, sell and view their assets online instantly," Allen said. "The Digital Asset Platform also offers fast trading and settlement, competitive fees and industry leading security protocols. Making additional cryptocurrencies available is another way we're evolving our capabilities to bring more value to our clients."
More details on benefits of the Digital Asset Platform include:
- Fast Settlement: Digital currency is securely stored as soon as it is delivered, and sale proceeds are available on a next day basis.
- Industry Leading Security Protocols: Multi-factor authentication for platform is required, as well as multi-signature wallet access verification.
- Low costs and Minimums to Start: No transfer in fee, with one low platform establishment fee regardless of account size.
The following provides background information on the new cryptocurrencies added to the Digital Asset Platform.
Stellar lumen (XLM) is based on an open source, decentralized protocol that facilitates currency exchange. Stellar allows users to send any currency they own to someone else in a different currency. Jed McCaleb, who previously served as chief technology officer at Ripple, founded the Stellar network and created the digital currency in 2014. The Stellar protocol is supported by a 5013 nonprofit, the Stellar Development Foundation.
Zcash (ZEC), which was established in 2016, is a cryptocurrency aimed at using cryptography to provide enhanced privacy for its users, compared to other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Zcash was built on the original Bitcoin code base and, like Bitcoin, it has a fixed total supply of 21 million units. Conceived by scientists at MIT, Johns Hopkins and other respected academic and scientific institutions, it was built on a decentralized blockchain.
About Equity Trust Company
Equity Trust Company is a financial services company with $25 billion in assets under custody and administration (as of 12/31/18) that offers individual investors, financial professionals and institutions the ability to invest in traditional and alternative asset classes, including real estate, notes, private equity, precious metals and digital currencies. The Equity Trust family of companies offers retail and institutional custodial services with individual retirement accounts, back-office solutions for RIAs, brokerage services, directed trustee services and more. Individual investors visit https://www.trustetc.com for more information. Financial professionals visit https://www.equityinstitutional.com for more information.
Equity Trust Company is a passive custodian and does not provide tax, legal or investment advice. Any information communicated by Equity Trust Company is for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. Whenever making an investment decision, please consult with your tax attorney or financial professional.
Prior to making any investment decisions, please consult with the appropriate legal, tax, and/or investment professionals for advice. As a self-directed IRA custodian, Equity Trust Company will not provide investment advice or risk assessment of any investment. The digital currency market may experience a high degree of volatility and clients should consult with an investment professional before any investment is made.
SOURCE Equity Trust
Share this article