Overview

• On May 28, the Labor Department formally withdrew the Biden-era guidance that urged fiduciaries to use “extreme care” before adding cryptocurrencies to 401(k) plan menus.
• The agency announced a neutral stance on digital assets, allowing plan sponsors discretion to include tokens, coins and related derivatives without additional cautionary requirements.
• Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said rescinding the previous guidance restores decision-making authority to fiduciaries rather than imposing regulatory overreach.
• Critics warn that opening retirement accounts to highly volatile assets could expose participants to increased risks of fraud, theft and drastic market swings.
• The move is one element of the Trump administration’s wider push to promote cryptocurrency adoption, which has included a White House crypto summit and plans for a federal Bitcoin reserve.