Empower 401(k) crypto: what an Empower plan can hold

This account is an optional add-on inside your 401(k). It runs alongside the standard fund menu and opens the door to investments outside that menu, though only when the employer chooses to include it. What it can hold varies by plan, but it may include a wide range of mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, and bonds, and it carries an added fee, per Empower's fact sheet.

TD Ameritrade provides this account rather than Empower. The fact sheet also notes that nobody at Empower or at your employer has checked whether the investments offered there suit you. Choosing among them is entirely up to you.

Possibly, though two conditions must be met. The employer must include the brokerage option, and the plan must permit ETFs within it. Every plan sets its own rules, so the quickest way to know is to ask your employer or Empower whether your plan offers the brokerage account and allows ETFs in it.

Spot bitcoin ETFs launched in 2024. These funds hold coins and track their price. According to Empower's own explainer, they track bitcoin's real price, which sets them apart from earlier funds built on bitcoin futures. The bitcoin itself is held by the fund company, not by you or your plan.

One bitcoin ETF you might see is FBTC. It charges 0.25% a year, which works out to about $25 a year on $10,000. On top of that, expect a few more costs:

• a trading charge every time you buy or sell
• the added fee that comes with the brokerage account
• the regular fees your plan already charges

Empower and your plan apply several rules to this account:

• Money in: deposits land in a cash fund within the brokerage account first, and you invest from there.
• Minimums: your plan may require a minimum transfer amount and a minimum balance that stays in the standard funds.
• Roth money: Roth contributions get their own separate brokerage account.
• Money out: to take money out, sell first, then move the cash back into the standard funds.

On August 7, 2025, the day an executive order on 401(k) investments came out, Empower said it backed the order. Empower's view is that investments like crypto should only come through options that professionals manage and review, with the people running your plan making the picks. Empower says it's the second-largest retirement provider in the US by number of savers.

Private equity, private credit, and real estate all appear in that statement. No crypto fund is mentioned. You can read how the executive order shifted things.

A crypto IRA can hold actual coins, which an Empower plan can't. If the money is in a past employer's plan, you can roll it into an IRA at any time. If it's in your current job's plan, you can only move it while you still work there if your plan allows it. This is called an in-service rollover.

A direct rollover is the simplest approach: the previous plan sends the money directly to the new IRA provider. No withholding applies and no tax is triggered. If the plan pays you instead, 20% is held back for federal tax, or $4,000 on a $20,000 cash-out. From there, you get 60 days to deposit the entire sum, withheld portion included, into an IRA.

An early cash-out is far costlier than rolling over. Take $20,000 withdrawn at age 45: the 10% additional tax removes $2,000, federal tax at 22% removes $4,400, and state tax at 5% removes $1,000, which leaves you keeping $12,600. A direct rollover into an IRA, by contrast, triggers none of those taxes, so the full $20,000 stays invested and continues to grow.

There's more detail on moving an old 401(k) into a crypto IRA if you'd like it.

Every crypto IRA provider charges a fee when you buy, and some add a yearly account or custody fee too. The numbers below don't include any trading done after that initial buy.

At $10,000, three providers charge nothing a year after you buy in: iTrustCapital ($100 to buy in), Fidelity Crypto IRA ($100) and Coin IRA ($125). The rest add a yearly fee, from $60 at Public to $250 at Unchained.

Here's what each provider charges at each balance level.

Balance of $10,000

Provider	Buy-in fee	Yearly fee
	$100	$0
	$100	$0
	$125	$0
	$125	$60
	$100	$100
	$100	$240
	$149	$240
	$150	$250
BitcoinIRA	$200	$240

Balance of $50,000

Provider	Buy-in fee	Yearly fee
	$500	$0
	$500	$0
	$625	$0
	$625	$300
	$500	$100
	$500	$240
	$745	$500
	$750	$250
BitcoinIRA	$1,000	$480

Balance of $250,000

Provider	Buy-in fee	Yearly fee
	$2,500	$0
	$2,500	$0
	$3,125	$0
	$3,125	$1,500
	$2,500	$100
	$2,500	$600
	$3,125	$2,499
	$3,750	$250
BitcoinIRA	$5,000	$2,400

For a wider view, take a look at a comparison of every crypto IRA and its fees, or a side-by-side look at 401(k) providers.