Choice PR Case Study: Bitcoin IRA Coverage in WSJ, CNBC

Virgo PR's 2021 media program for Choice, the retirement platform from custodian Kingdom Trust that lets savers hold bitcoin in an IRA, earned coverage in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and The Hustle within about three months. The stories covered the product, the investor trend behind it and the open tax questions, which gave Choice credibility with readers who were new to crypto retirement accounts.

Published November 10, 2026. Results are as reported by the linked outlets. This page describes media coverage and is not tax or investment advice.

What Are the Key Facts of the Choice PR Case Study?

The Choice program produced four documented placements in 2021 across a national newspaper, a business broadcaster and a business newsletter. The table lists them.

DateOutletStoryAngleApril 29, 2021The HustleChoice gives you the choice to put bitcoin in your retirement accountStartup featureJune 25, 2021The Wall Street JournalSaving for Retirement? Now You Can Bet on BitcoinFeatureJuly 24, 2021CNBCWhy some investors are banking on a bitcoin IRA instead of Social SecurityPlatform use caseAugust 1, 2021CNBCThis scheme lets you mine bitcoin tax-free inside an IRA but may not pass muster with the IRSFeature on a new product

What Is Choice?

Choice is a self-directed retirement platform from Kingdom Trust Company that lets savers hold stocks, gold, ETFs and digital assets in one retirement account. The Hustle reported that Choice launched in May 2020 and had more than 125,000 retirement accounts and over $18 billion in assets under custody across 20,000 assets by April 2021.

The Block reported in June 2021 that Choice offered trading in around 20 cryptocurrencies, along with stocks and ETFs, and that the platform was desktop-only until a mobile app launched in late July. Ryan Radloff, CEO of Kingdom Trust, which offers the Choice IRA, was the company's public voice in these stories.

Why Was Choice Hard to Explain to the Press?

Choice was hard to explain because it sat between two audiences that rarely overlap: crypto buyers who distrust retirement accounts and retirement savers who distrust crypto. Bitcoin had been eligible for retirement accounts since 2014, according to The Hustle, but most savers did not know it, and the tax treatment raised questions that reporters were right to ask.

A purely promotional pitch would have failed with both groups. The coverage that worked treated the product as a news story with a trend behind it and a risk attached.

What Did the Coverage Say?

The four stories framed Choice as part of a shift in how retirement savers use crypto, and they did not hide the tax and regulatory questions.

The Hustle introduced the startup to a business audience with its account and asset figures. The Wall Street Journal ran a feature on putting bitcoin into retirement savings, and CNBC's July 24 story took up why some investors preferred a bitcoin IRA to relying on Social Security. In that coverage Onramp Invest CEO Tyrone Ross told CNBC that for bitcoin and retirement accounts, "it's IRAs, IRAs, IRAs," as 401(k) Specialist later reported.

On August 1, CNBC reported on a plan to let miners buy mining hardware inside an IRA, with equipment priced at $5,000 to $10,000 or more according to Radloff. The story also quoted Shehan Chandrasekera, a CPA and head of tax strategy at CoinTracker, who said the arrangement was not new but that tax experts questioned whether it would pass IRS scrutiny.

How Did the Coverage Build Momentum?

The coverage built momentum by moving from a startup profile to a national newspaper feature to two network stories, so each placement could cite the one before it.

• The Hustle gave the company a credible third-party profile and the first public figures.
• The Wall Street Journal feature added a national business audience and made later pitches easier to place.
• CNBC's trend story tied Choice to a broader investor movement instead of a single product.
• CNBC's mining story showed the company willing to discuss unresolved tax questions in public.

The same pattern of a profile first and larger outlets later appears in Virgo PR's work for Xclaim and OpenSea.

What Can Fintech Companies Learn From the Choice Campaign?

Fintech companies can learn to pair every product claim with the honest caveat, because reporters in regulated finance will add the caveat themselves.

• Give reporters a trend and a named, credible spokesperson, not only a product.
• Let outside experts speak, even when they raise doubts, since a story with only the company's voice carries little weight.
• Use public figures that a reader can check, such as account counts and assets under custody, and attribute them to the outlet that reported them.
• Sequence placements so a trade or newsletter profile comes before the national feature.

Companies that handle disclosure rules can read how Virgo PR approaches earnings releases and Form 8-K and the basics of PR.

Frequently asked questions

Which PR agency worked with Choice?

Virgo PR ran media relations for Choice in 2021, which produced coverage in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and The Hustle.

What is a bitcoin IRA?

A bitcoin IRA is a self-directed individual retirement account that holds bitcoin and other digital assets through a custodian. The account is set up and funded under IRS retirement account rules, and savers should confirm the tax treatment with a qualified professional.

What did CNBC report about Choice?

CNBC reported on August 1, 2021 that Choice's parent custodian, Kingdom Trust, was offering a way to buy bitcoin mining hardware inside an IRA, and that tax experts questioned whether the IRS would accept it.

Does this page claim that PR caused Choice's growth?

No. Account and asset figures come from the outlets that reported them, and the page reports the coverage without claiming that coverage alone produced any business result.

Can a fintech startup earn national coverage?

Yes, but it usually needs a credible spokesperson, a trend that readers care about and outside voices that can check the claims. Contact Virgo PR to discuss a program.