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Supercharging Your Retirement with Crypto: A Wise Move, or a Risky Bet?

Mark Crothers · Aug 8, 2025 · 23 replies

I’m grappling with crypto at the moment. I’ve opened an account with eToro with a plan to make a $20,000 investment/gamble with the simple idea of leaving it for the next 10years to see what happens. I personally don’t recommend this unless you’re happy to lose your shirt.

With crypto in my mind I was interested to read an article this morning about how your President Trump has just signed an executive order that could change things up. It seems he’s directing federal agencies to make it easier for retirement plans to include alternative assets like crypto and private equity.

It seems to be a big shift from the previous administration’s approach. Supporters say it gives more choice and a shot at higher returns. But critics warn it’s a risky move, exposing everyday savers to the wild swings of the crypto market

I’m assuming it will take a while to happen. But the question begs to be asked: Is this a smart way to supercharge your retirement, or a dangerous gamble? What do you think?

My view is that crypto should be treated as a long term gamble with money you can afford to lose. I’m really not sure of it being a suitable position in someone’s retirement account. Would a financial advisor even be able to square this with the duty to advise in the client’s best interests? I think it could probably expose them to possible lawsuits. It seems like a new can of worms is about to hit the ground. Any thoughts?

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squirrel hammer
squirrel hammer
1 year ago

I’ve been in bitcoin for 12 years and it’s the single smartest thing I’ve ever done.

2
Richard Hayman
Richard Hayman
1 year ago

I subscribe to the greater fool theory and don’t need to understand it. So long as BTC’s supply is finite and population expands, the odds are it will get more expensive. Being uncontrolled by any person or country is a plus.

I read somewhere at everyone should have (notice I did not ‘invest’) 2% of their portfolio in crypto.

So I did that. In my well diversified portfolio, it has become my single largest holding and will probably remain so.

1
David
David
1 year ago

IMO, a Bitcoin ETF such as IBIT provides easy, safe exposure. The better you understand Bitcoin the less speculative it will seem. Ric Edelman is a good resource for those who want to know more. A simple YouTube search will provide helpful information.

Bitcoin, not crypto.

5
Grant Clifford
Grant Clifford
1 year ago
Reply to  David

From my non-expert perspective I agree that BTC is the ‘gold standard’. Once BTC ETFs became ‘legal’ I moved my bitcoin related holdings to IBIT.

Some additional thoughts / comments:

  1. I have been following ’crypto’ for a few years now. For all the reading on BTC and NFTs etc, I would say I still have a limited understanding. I vowed years ago that I would never go there from an investment perspective. Never say never.
  2. I also have limited understanding of the businesses in the S&P 500. A good number of the companies I have a reasonable understanding, some not so much, but it doesn’t stop me from including a low cost S&P 500 ETF in my retirement account.
  3. I have a very conservative mix of ETFs and US Treasuries in my retirement accounts. A couple of years ago I was looking to take on a little more risk, specifically to ‘spice-up’ my Roth IRA, and started investing in BTC with the idea that the total holding would be less than 2% of my total portfolio. I have since ‘cashed-in’ the original 2% dollar value and the remaining BTC holdings sit at around 8% of the portfolio.
  4. It has been a volatile ride to this point. As a guiding light I generally look at global money supply. There is a strong correlation between global money supply and BTC, with the valuation of BTC tracking generally a few months behind money supply.
  5. I have seen my initial investment show red ink on a number of occasions. I expected that and was prepared to live with that as I knew it was risky. The question for those interested in BTC is once (if) your initial investment creates a meaningful return, then what?
  6. From my perspective BTC adoption is still in its infancy and with moves afoot to allow 401Ks to invest in BTC I still see more upside potential. But the volatility drawdowns will be more painful if the % dollar value of BTC in my portfolio increases. That being said I have found the long term US Treasuries bonds I invested in Oct ‘24 to act as a foundation in my portfolio do a good job at keeping things in balance.
  7. I will not venture into the wild west of ‘crypto’ with NFT tokens etc. Other mainstream currencies such as ETH and SOL I have small investments in.
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