Good morning, fam—today we’re turning our live chat with Brian Hirsh (founder of Athenic) into a clean, standalone read you can send to your degen cousin and your CPA. We cover what a Roth IRA is, how self-custody works inside an IRA, the legal plumbing (LLC “checkbook” structure), risks, fees, rollovers, and who this is actually for. Use code DCN for $30 off at athenic.xyz if you decide to try it.
What “Self-Custody” Means—In Plain English
Not your keys, not your coins. Athenic’s angle is that you keep control of your wallet(s) for your IRA—they can’t touch it. You direct the assets and the on-chain moves; they handle the IRA scaffolding and compliance. The trade-off: you gain sovereignty, but you also take on key management responsibility. Lose the keys, lose the coins—same as normal DeFi.
Roth vs. Traditional—The 30-Second Refresher
Both accounts let gains compound without capital-gains tax while you’re investing.
Traditional IRA: You may get a deduction going in; withdrawals in retirement are taxed.
Roth IRA: You contribute after-tax dollars; qualified withdrawals are tax-free.
For crypto traders/allocators, the big prize is tax-free compounding while you buy, sell, rotate, and rebalance inside the IRA.
Why This Is a Big Deal for Crypto Allocators
Every time you realize gains in a regular, taxable wallet, Uncle Sam takes a cut. Inside an IRA, your trades don’t trigger capital gains taxes—so more stays invested to keep compounding. In the convo, we walked through back-of-napkin math showing how skipping those annual tax drags can mean millions more at retirement, even with modest annual contributions. (Limits are currently $7,000/yr for many savers; catch-ups exist if you’re older.)
How Athenic Makes Self-Custody “IRA-Legal”
This uses a well-worn structure called a self-directed “checkbook” IRA:
An IRA is opened for you.
The IRA owns a single-member LLC (you’re the managing member).
That LLC opens the on-chain wallet(s) you control.
You invest from the LLC wallet—on-chain—within IRA rules.
Because blockchains are public, the custodian/administrator can see your wallet balances and activity for reporting, satisfying the oversight requirement that sank the old “gold in the basement” schemes.
What You Can (and Can’t) Do
You can:
Hold and actively trade crypto inside the IRA (BTC, ETH, stablecoins, DeFi positions, etc.), and avoid capital-gains taxes while you do it.
Change wallets and rebalance—as long as it’s inside the IRA’s LLC structure.
You can’t:
“Just send” pre-owned coins straight into the IRA wallet. Contributions and rollovers must go through the proper on-ramp (typically USD → IRA → crypto).
Hold tokens where you’re a direct beneficiary (e.g., your own startup’s token/equity) due to prohibited-transaction rules.
Fees, Rollovers, and “What If They Shut Down?”
Pricing (Athenic): $250 one-time setup + $15/mo subscription. No trading spread from them. They position this as cheaper than many alt-asset IRA shops or 1%-of-trade models.
Rollovers: IRAs are portable by law. If you leave, you’d typically liquidate to USD inside the IRA and transfer to another IRA provider (you keep your tax advantage).
Wind-down risk: If Athenic disappeared, your IRA still exists; you’d roll to another custodian. The main inconvenience is liquidating/re-on-ramping if the next provider doesn’t support self-custody.
Risks & Responsibilities (Read This Twice)
Key security is on you. Cold storage, backups, multisig—whatever your opsec is, this is the time to level it up. If you lose keys, there’s no magic recovery. (If the account value is truly gone, the reported value is zero—no tax due on a zero-value account—but you’ve still lost the assets.)
Stay inside the rails. Keep contributions, trades, and any DeFi activity squarely within the IRA’s LLC wallet(s) and reporting flow. Paper trails matter.
Who This Is For (and Not For)
Great fit: People already comfortable with DeFi who want the tax shield of an IRA without handing coins to a centralized custodian. Active allocators who rotate between BTC/ETH/stables/DeFi and care about tax drag.
Not the target: Complete beginners who want a “one-button” robo experience. (Athenic doesn’t issue you a wallet—you bring your own and drive.)
Getting Started (and a DCN Discount)
If you’re thinking about setting this up, check out athenic.xyz—and use code DCN for $30 off the signup. Yes, we have an affiliate relationship; yes, we’d still tell you to take the tax-free compounding seriously. Twice in one post so you don’t miss it: athenic.xyz — code DCN for $30 off.
Final Word
Self-custody inside a Roth IRA is the crypto-native way to shelter long-term gains while keeping on-chain freedom. It’s powerful, but it demands discipline—especially around keys and compliance. If that’s your vibe, it’s worth a deep look. If you want training wheels, consider a more traditional path (ETF-only IRAs, etc.) and graduate later.
