Bitcoin and some other popular cryptocurrencies have recently matured into a popular emerging asset class and many investors seriously looking at SMSF cryptocurrency as a part of their self-managed super fund investment portfolio.
So, can an SMSF invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? And if so, what must SMSF trustees and others looking to invest their super in Bitcoin be aware of?
There are a number of key areas that trustees need to consider and address if they are looking if invest their SMSF monies into Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies / crypto-assets.
NEW: View our SMSF Cryptocurrency Solution!
Is it allowable under the SMSF trust deed?
For any investment to be allowed, it must specifically be enabled and included in the trust deed of the SMSF. As Bitcoin and other crypto-assets are part of a relatively new asset class, it is unlikely that most SMSF deed would include a provision for investing into these currencies.
The ATO’s view is the Bitcoin and other crypto-assets are NOT currencies:
“Our view is that bitcoin is neither money nor a foreign currency, and the supply of bitcoin is not a financial supply for goods and services tax (GST) purposes. Bitcoin is, however, an asset for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes.”
Source: Tax treatment of crypto-currencies in Australia – specifically bitcoin
Most definitions of digital currency include both crypto-currencies as well as traditional fiat currency in digital format.
SMSF Investment Strategy
Like any SMSF investment, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency must be included in the documented investment strategy of the SMSF.
SMSF investment strategies MUST consider the following:
1. Diversification (investing in a range of assets and asset classes)
2. The liquidity of the fund’s assets (how easily they can be converted to cash to meet fund expenses)
3. The fund’s ability to pay benefits (when members retire) and other costs it incurs
4. The members’ needs and circumstances (for example, their age and retirement needs). This includes risk and return considerations.
5. Whether to hold insurance cover (such as life insurance) for each member of your SMSF.
As with the SMSF trust deed, trustees would need to update their investment strategy document to include crypto-assets.
It is important to note that crypto-assets such as Bitcoin don’t generate income (unless ‘staked’ – see below) – so any investment is purely based on expected capital appreciation.
The ATO has also started to focus on investment strategies for SMSFs that invest in bitcoin and other assets deemed high risk including leveraged direct property which we cover in this article: Is your SMSF cryptocurrency investment strategy meeting diversification requirements?
Importantly, although no one (including the ATO) can stop you from investing 100% of your super via an SMSF into cryptocurrency, it would be VERY DIFFICULT to show how you’ve met the above investment strategy requirements. This means if your SMSF did invest a VERY high percentage of its assets into cryptocurrency, any competent and independent SMSF auditor may report a breach of the investment strategy regulations unless it can be shown the level of risk involved is appropriate for the members of the SMSF.
SMSF trustees should apply common sense in regards to the construction of their investment strategy – especially when it comes to diversification and how much (if any) should be invested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
You can generate your customised investment strategy document here.
The Sole Purpose Test
The sole purpose test ensures that an SMSF is maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to members, or to their dependents if a member dies before retirement.
This means the trustees or anyone else directly or indirectly cannot obtain a financial benefit when making investment decisions and arrangements (other than increasing the return to your fund).
Provided other issues identified below are addressed (especially around verification of ownership and separation from personal assets) there should be no issues with the sole purpose test.
One potential item that may impact sole purpose is affiliate fees or commissions. Many cryptocurrency SMSF exchanges provide investors with an affiliate system whereby a percentage of their trading fees are paid to the person who referred the account holder.
In the context of an SMSF, if a trustee personally established an account and signed up as an affiliate, and then set up an SMSF account using that affiliate/referral code, the trustee personally would receive an affiliate commission from the SMSFs investment activities and the sole purpose test would be breached.
If you can think of other scenarios with crypto-currencies that would breach the sole purpose test, please contact us.
Ownership and Existence of Bitcoin
Bitcoin and other crypto-assets don’t physically exist. They are intangible and created as a reward for mining which uses computer processing power. If a trustee wanting to invest their SMSF monies into Bitcoin doesn’t understand the previous sentence, they should question their proposed cryptocurrency SMSF investment strategy.
Intangible assets can be owned. Intellectual property for example can be incredibly valuable – provided you can confirm you own and control it.
Crypto-assets are purchased via a coin exchange company using cash. Typically the process is that money is transferred from the investors bank account into an online cash ‘wallet’ with the exchange provider. The balance in the wallet is then utilised to purchase Bitcoin and other crypto-currency.
Initially, most Australian based coin exchanges will only set up an account using the name and email address of an individual – there is no provision for SMSFs or other entities to open an account. Although this is restrictive, SMSFs can overcome this and utilise coin exchanges and remain compliant with the SIS Act and Regulations and also keep their auditors happy.
Fortunately, most of the popular Australian coin exchanges offer accounts in the name of an SMSF, which removes a lot of the potential compliance issues with cryptocurrency SMSF. If an SMSF investor initially set up an online account in their own personal name and used SMSF monies to purchase cryptocurrency for their SMSF, they should now easily be able to transfer it to a wallet specifically link to an account in the name of the SMSF.
I personally (not my SMSF) have set up an account with an Australian based coin exchange and undergone their AML / KYC verification process. During a verification phone call with their customer service team, they asked me whether I was investing on behalf of a company, trust or SMSF. I informed them I was not, but I asked what if I said yes and how it would work. They said they would need to be provided with additional documentation for the entity and would expect that the linked bank account is in the name of the entity.
With the attention and growth of Bitcoin and other crypto-asset investments, I would expect that coin exchanges would follow fintech business like BrickX and Stake and enable non-individual entity accounts including SMSFs.
Practical methods of confirming that Bitcoin or other crypto-assets are in fact held by an SMSF may include:
• Utilising an SMSF specific email address to register the coin exchange account (this also helps to show the assets are separate to any other accounts in the name of the trustees personally)
• DO NOT transact Bitcoin or other crypto-assets between the SMSF account and a personal account in the name of the members.
• Linking the correct SMSF bank account to the coin exchange account (I would strongly suggest a separate bank account is used to keep any trading and access separate from the primary transactional account of the SMSF).
• Completing a declaration of trust or other declaration accepted by the auditor of the SMSF confirming that the crypto-assets are held by the trustee on behalf of the fund and not used personally by the trustees (an example Declaration of Trust document can be found here).
• Ensure all trading transaction reports and tax invoices are saved and made available for both the SMSF administrator and the independent auditor (these should also be sent/forwarded to your SMSF administrator as they occur).
• Obtain a wallet balance report showing the holdings at 30 June each year (screenshot for example). This would need to be facilitated for both online wallets with a coin exchange as well as offline/cold storage wallets.
The above list is not exhaustive, but in most bases would provide an independent SMSF auditor with enough evidence to enable them to confirm that the Bitcoin or crypto-assets are held and controlled by the SMSF.
Exchanges, Wallets and Storage
Investors have the option of keeping their cryptocurrency within the online wallets or transferring them to an offline wallet which is sometimes called a ‘cold storage’ device.
The following guides from bitcoin.com.au provide further information on wallet options: https://bitcoin.com.au/page/wallets/
Although probably an over-simplistic summary, an online wallet with a coin exchange holds both the public key (similar to an account number) and a private key (like a password that verifies you own the crypto-assets).
The security of the exchange provider is paramount. If the coin exchange you hold your cryptocurrency SMSF with is hacked, your investment will be lost. There have already been widely publicised examples of coin exchanges being hacked.
Selecting a Coin Exchange for SMSF Cryptocurrency
SMSF trustees should do extensive due diligence before investing via a coin exchange. As a minimum, trustees should consider the following:
• Ensure the coin exchange is based in Australia and has a physical office location and Australian-based staff.
• Investigate how long the business has been in operation and who are the individuals behind the coin exchange (a LinkedIn and Google search useful here).
• Check to ensure the coin exchange detailed complaints handling procedures, comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws and conduct detailed Know-Your-Client (KYC) verification procedures.
• The coin exchange is a member of a self-regulating industry body such as the Australia Digital Commerce Association
• The business has strong customer support both via phone and online.
• The trading fees or commissions are fair and reasonable (note it’s not just the ‘brokerage’ fees, but also the spread fees that need to be looked at).
There are many exchanges and brokerage solutions available. It is up to you to undertake your own due diligence on suitable providers.
Practical Implications of Cryptocurrency for SMSF Administration
As crypto-investments are so new, accounting and administering these assets are completely manual. SMSF software providers don’t have data feeds from exchanges and do not pull through a feed of values for the investments.
Investing into Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies would likely increase both the administration cost and audit cost to the SMSF. The amount of increase would depend on the administrator and type / frequency of trading and investment.
We suggest the following for trustees before investing in Bitcoin or other crypto-investments:
1. Update trust deed and investment strategy (as above)
2. Set up an NEW cash account to link to your online SMSF wallet and ensure all transaction go via that account
3. Speak to the administrator of the fund BEFORE commencing trading. Understand what information and documents will be needed to maintain the accounts and also what the independent auditor will require in terms of evidence at the end of the financial year.
4. Set up an auto-forwarding rule for any email trade confirmations from the coin exchange so your SMSF administrator receives a copy of the invoice/trade confirmation when it occurs.
Other Questions
The following are questions we’ve been asked about Bitcoin and crypto-assets:
Can I transfer Bitcoin or cryptocurrency I own personally to my SMSF?
• No. The ATO has deemed that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are NOT money nor a foreign currency, hence they cannot be acquired from a related party (member).
• A member would need to sell the crypto-investment, transfer the cash to the SMSF, and then the SMSF could re-purchase the crypto-investment if necessary.
My SMSF owns cryptocurrency, can I use it to make a pension or benefit payment?
• If you are eligible to receive a benefit payment from your SMSF you can transfer Bitcoin or a cryptocurrency as a lump sum payment, but pension payments still need to be cash.
Can my SMSF mine Bitcoin?
• Technically yes. Mining involves using computer processing power (a lot of processing power) to ‘win’ the right to time-stamp a transaction on the blockchain with the reward being some Bitcoin.
• The income (Bitcoin) generated by the mining activity would be assessable income to the SMSF and depending on income level GST is required to be remitted to the ATO. The ATO has provided information on the tax treatment of Bitcoin mining here: Mining Bitcoin.
• Expenses – namely electricity and depreciation of computer hardware – would also be deductible in relation to generating the income. Being able to accurately track and have the SMSF pay for these expenses is complex and advice should be sought from a specialist SMSF accountant or administrator.
• A better solution may be for members of the SMSF to establish a Bitcoin mining enterprise in their own names (or a trading entity) and use concessional super contributions (paid in cash – not Bitcoin – to the SMSF) as a legitimate tax deduction to offset income generated from mining activities.
Can I pay SMSF expenses or other investments using Bitcoin?
• Yes. The ATO has confirmed that Bitcoin and other crypto-assets are similar in nature to barter transactions.
• Investments need to be made at arms-length/market value and cannot be acquired from related parties of the SMSF unless they are one of the few exceptions (a listed security or business real property).
• For all Bitcoin transactions you need to keep a record of the date, the amount in Australian dollars, the purpose of the transaction and who the other party was (even if it’s just their Bitcoin address / public key).
Can my SMSF stake Bitcoin and other crypto coins to earn income?
- Yes. It is possible for cryptocurrency assets owned by an SMSF to be ‘staked’ – i.e. used in decentralised finance (DeFi) applications and networks and receive an income.
- Any income received MUST be paid to the SMSF (i.e. to increase the holdings of the SMSF) and any related party cannot receive a direct or ancillary benefit.
How are Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in an SMSF taxed?
• Cryptocurrencies are taxed on capital account, meaning there is a capital gain or loss when the investment is sold.
• Any trading fees or commissions form part of the cost-base of the asset and cannot be claimed as a tax deduction.
Who can provide financial advice on Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies?
• Crypto-investments like Bitcoin are not a financial product, however any investment related to an SMSF is considered financial product advice.
• It is unlikely that any financial advisers would be specifically licensed to provide advice on Bitcoin so any advice would be limited to compliance with the relevant SIS Act and Regulations.
Should I invest in cryptocurrency via my SMSF?
Q. Should I invest in bitcoin?
A. My answer is the same as it was in 2017 (https://t.co/cBU4bJkAhX) Position sizing is critical with any speculative investment. You need to be able to weather big ups and downs to enjoy the benefits if you happen to be right in the long run. $BTC pic.twitter.com/uG9a5UmSgQ
— Chris Brycki (@chrisbrycki) June 22, 2020
How to set up a cryptocurrency SMSF to buy Bitcoin?
Grow can assist you to set up an SMSF to invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies. You can find out more about how to set up an SMSF here.
Our standard SMSF setup fee is either $798 (individual trustees) or $1395 (company trustee) which you pay personally and then is reimbursed from the SMSF once its received funds from either employer contributions or a rollover of your existing super.
Ongoing fees for a cryptocurrency SMSF start at $1430 per annum where your SMSF invests in cryptocurrencies via an exchange (small additional cost for external hardware wallets).
If you would like to discuss our services including how we can assist you to set up an SMSF to invest in crypto, please schedule a call.
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