I Rolled Over My TSP/IRA into a Bitcoin IRA with Unchained: Full Walkthrough, Fees, and What I Learned

My Experience Moving a TSP/IRA to a Bitcoin IRA with Unchained

Hi all,

I recently decided to move my old Thrift Savings Plan or TSP (Military/Federal employee 401k equivalent) to a Bitcoin IRA. I hadn't seen anyone actually doing this here or anywhere really for that matter. I couldn't find any reviews or information otherwise about how to do this or how it went, so I figured I'd do it to hopefully help someone else out. I walked through most of it with ChatGPT so I had it summarize the process for me and I touched it up.

Not financial advice. Not advocating for any single service or method.

What I Was Looking For

My priorities were pretty specific:

• Actual bitcoin, not an ETF or paper IOU. In the end, at retirement age, I want to walk away with MY Bitcoin in MY hand. Money in, Bitcoin out, tax advantaged.
• A setup where I personally control keys. No one can take it away from me. If the company fails, I don’t care. I have my Bitcoin.
• An IRA structure with the ability to do both Traditional and Roth. I was rolling over both types.
• A long-term, secure place to hold BTC without future migration headaches.

Basically: tax advantages + sovereignty.

Why I Chose Unchained Over iTrustCapital / BitcoinIRA, etc.

I looked at all the big names:

• iTrustCapital – Simple, cheap, but fully custodial. I don’t truly own the Bitcoin.
• BitcoinIRA – High fees, unclear custody, questionable marketing.
• Other providers – Mostly custodial, omnibus wallets, or ETF-like exposure.

Unchained was the only one offering:

• A true multisig vault
• Self-custody inside an IRA
• No AUM fees
• Flat yearly vault fee
• Full key control later in life if I want to walk away with my BTC

Their setup matched what I envisioned: long-term ownership and no single point of failure.

How Unchained’s 2-of-3 Multisig Actually Works

This is a big part of why I chose them.

A standard single-key wallet is dangerous: lose the key = game over.

Unchained uses 2-of-3 multisig, meaning:

• Three total keys exist.
• Any two keys can move your BTC.
• One key can be lost forever and you’re still fine.

Here’s how they break it down:

Key 1 — My Key #1

• I generate and hold this myself (hardware wallet).
• This stays in my possession.

Key 2 — My Key #2

• Yes. I also hold a second key.
• This is what shocked me: most multisig providers only let the client hold one key.
• With Unchained IRA vaults, I personally hold TWO of the three keys.

This means:

• I have majority control
• I’m not dependent on Unchained except for signing under IRA rules
• I retain redundancy on my side

Key 3 — Unchained’s IRA Key

• Their key is required because IRA law requires a custodian’s involvement.
• This prevents me from self-dealing (IRS compliance thing).

Even though Unchained holds one key, they do not have unilateral control. They cannot move my BTC alone.

If one of my hardware keys dies, disappears, or I lose access, my other key + Unchained’s key = safe recovery.

This was the perfect balance of:

• Security
• User control
• Compliance

The Actual Setup Process with Unchained

1. Opening the Two Accounts

I had to open:

• A Traditional Bitcoin IRA Vault
• A Roth Bitcoin IRA Vault

This was fast. Done within a day. The custodian (Fortis) handles the IRA backend and Unchained handles the vault + multisig.

The fee per account/vault: $250 annually. One account for Roth, one for Traditional, so $500 annually paid up front at account creation.

Besides the initial call for information and an email answering a few questions, I pretty much handled the entire thing myself. I setup both accounts, purchased the two hardware keys, setup the devices, added my keys to the account dashboard, built a vault for each, etc. I’ve never done anything like that ever, and I was able to do this without any customer service.

All I needed was a DIY Guide that they provided me and a little help from ChatGPT. There is a concierge white glove service available to do all the setup for you, but it's $895 and you don't need it if you can follow directions.

2. Working With Unchained (Mixed Experience)

Human side of things was kind of meh:

• Aside from an initial call and follow up email, the rep seemed kind of disinterested. It seemed like they were taking their time where I was motivated and pushing for answers and guidance to get this done. Bitcoin is under $90k! Like lfg! Nothing deal breaking but did not match my energy or expectation of theirs. Took long enough to get answers that I started looking at other possibilities.
• No fee flexibility at all. Non-negotiable on $250 per account. Non-negotiable on 1.5% fee for them to buy your Bitcoin through their Trade Desk.
• No limit orders right now (In the future please God). Purchases have to be made through their Trade Desk and executed at the next day's spot price, so slippage is possible. Orders must be placed in $2k increments.

3. Their Initial Fees

• $250 per account paid annually. Required to have one account for each IRA type.
• 1.5% fee per Bitcoin transaction (USD→BTC or BTC→USD)
• $2k minimum trade size. Orders placed through Trade Desk to be executed next day.
• Funding only via IRA/TSP rollover transfer or annual contribution paid by wire transfer or check.

Check for other fees regarding IRA conversions, etc. on their website. This lists only the ones concerning me.

4. The Rollover (TSP → Unchained)

Unchained partners with Capitalize for rollovers.

• You set up an appointment with them on the Capitalize appointment calendar accessed through your Unchained dashboard. In my case the earliest appointment was 6 days away.
• I tried to get in touch sooner and eventually got a 3-way call with TSP that night.

It took 20 minutes to get through the rollover call with TSP. TSP then cut two checks and mailed them to me (yes, snail mail). I should receive that within 10 days. I then use the pre-addressed, pre-stamped envelope sent by Capitalize to forward those checks to Unchained.

Things can get messed up if not done exactly right during this rollover process. Capitalize ensures account numbers are correct, name is spelled correctly, and checks are addressed correctly. This prevents major holdups.

So That’s Where I’m At Now

• Extremely happy and excited I went this route.
• I wanted to put money in one end and pull Bitcoin out the other end tax-free, without anyone or anything being able to take it away from me.
• More expensive than other services, but worth it to never have to worry about custody or losing keys.

This structure gives me:

• Actual bitcoin
• Held in multisig
• With two keys I personally control
• Inside long-term tax-advantaged accounts
• No reliance on a single custodian. No single point of failure (other than me)
• No ETF middleman

If you prefer:

• Ease
• Simplicity
• Lower fees
• Zero interaction with keys

Then iTrustCapital or a fully custodial provider is easier, but you’re not really sovereign.

Future Plans:

Over time I plan to convert my Traditional IRA over to a Roth IRA through Unchained on Bitcoin weakness. Unchained does the reporting to the IRS and I'll have to pay taxes on the conversion, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.

TLDR

• Rolled over my TSP into an Unchained Bitcoin IRA because I wanted real key ownership.
• Unchained uses a true 2-of-3 multisig where I hold two keys and they hold one.
• The rollover itself was handled smoothly with Capitalize.
• Unchained is rigid on fees, but the technical self-guided setup for the vault worked well.
• If you want the strongest self-custody model in a Bitcoin IRA, this is currently the best available option in my opinion, but expect minimal handholding.

If You’re Thinking About Doing This

Feel free to ask me questions. I just completed the rollover and the whole process is fresh in my mind, including the annoying parts.