ForUsAll 401(k) crypto window: caps, fees and coins
You can hold crypto like bitcoin inside a ForUsAll 401k, but only when your employer runs its plan through ForUsAll and has turned on the crypto window. Even then, crypto is capped at 5% of both what you have saved and what you put in.
ForUsAll 401(k) and crypto at a glance
- Route to crypto
- A crypto window inside the plan, where you pick the coins yourself
- Switched on by
- Your employer must use ForUsAll and turn the window on
- Limit
- No more than 5% of your savings, and 5% of each new amount taken from your pay
- Cost
- 0.15% each time you buy or sell, plus about 1% a year of what you hold there
- Held by
- Coinbase, a large crypto company, which keeps the coins off the internet for safety
- What it holds
- Coins you pick, kept in the plan's crypto window
From ForUsAll's own page. Compare every 401(k) provider side by side.
If your plan offers none of this: an old ForUsAll 401(k) can roll over to a crypto IRA
- iTrustCapital: $500 to buy in and $0 a year on $50,000
- Fidelity Crypto IRA: $500 to buy in and $0 a year on $50,000
- Coin IRA: $625 to buy in and $0 a year on $50,000
ForUsAll and who can use it
ForUsAll administers 401(k) plans on behalf of employers, which means the only way in is through a workplace whose plan it administers. Your employer must run its plan through ForUsAll and switch the crypto window on. Without that, there's no way for you to turn it on yourself.
Think of the crypto window as a self-directed corner of your 401(k). You pick and purchase coins on your own, apart from the plan's regular funds.
ForUsAll crypto limits
ForUsAll restricts crypto to a 5% cap on your balance and your contributions. Everything else stays invested in the plan's other options.
So only a small slice of your savings can go into crypto. The rest stays in the plan's regular funds, which keeps a big crypto drop from hitting your whole retirement.
Which coins can you buy?
Only the coins ForUsAll makes available in the window are open to you. ForUsAll's crypto page shows the current lineup, and you'll see the same list after you log in.
Fees for the crypto window
You'll pay 2 charges, and ForUsAll sets both:
- 0.15% on every trade
- 0.083% monthly on the amount held in the window, roughly 1% a year
Each trade costs a small fee. On top of that, you pay a monthly charge on whatever sits in the window, which comes to about 1% a year. Trading often adds up, so it's worth keeping trades few.
How does ForUsAll stack up against a crypto IRA?
A crypto IRA stands apart as its own retirement account, separate from your workplace plan. Here's a cost comparison based on putting about $10,000 into crypto, assuming a single purchase and no later trading for the IRA options.
| Provider holding the $10,000 | Cost to buy in | Ongoing yearly cost |
|---|---|---|
| ForUsAll crypto window | 0.15% a trade | about 1% a year of the window balance |
| Fidelity Crypto IRA | $100 | $0 |
| iTrustCapital | $100 | $0 |
| IRA Financial | $100 | $100 |
| Coin IRA | $125 | $0 |
| BitcoinIRA | $200 | $240 |
| Swan | $100 | $240 |
No 5% cap applies to a crypto IRA. With a crypto IRA, a company called a custodian holds your account and keeps its records. If that custodian offers coins, you pick which ones to buy.
Rolling a 401(k) over into a crypto IRA
A 401(k) from a former employer can roll into a crypto IRA whenever you like. Money still in your current employer's plan can move while you're employed there only if the plan permits an in-service rollover, and some plans permit it while others don't.
With a direct rollover, the plan sends the money directly to the IRA. No withholding happens and no tax is due. Rolling over $20,000 directly keeps the entire $20,000 at work, tax free and with no 10% charge for now.
When the plan pays you instead, it withholds 20% for federal tax, so $4,000 comes out of a $20,000 cash-out. From there you have 60 days to deposit the whole amount into an IRA, even the withheld portion.
Cashing out instead of rolling over
Withdraw before age 59½ and a 10% tax gets added on top of ordinary income tax. Here's what you could end up keeping from a cash-out:
| Withdrawal | Tax bracket and state rate | Extra 10% charge | Federal tax | State tax | What's left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 taken before 59½ | 12% bracket, no state tax | $1,000 | $1,200 | $0 | $7,800 |
| $20,000 withdrawn at 45 | 22% bracket, 5% state | $2,000 | $4,400 | $1,000 | $12,600 |
Can a 401(k) legally hold crypto?
It can. The Department of Labor released Compliance Assistance Release 2025-01 on May 28, 2025, pulling back its 2022 guidance. That 2022 guidance had urged employers to apply "extreme care" around crypto.
The new release points out that the "extreme care" standard appears nowhere in the law covering 401(k) plans. It also states the department takes no position for or against crypto. Your employer still decides whether your plan includes it.