Labor Department Rescinds Warning on Crypto in 401(k) Plans

In May 2025 the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration rescinded a Biden-era warning that had cautioned 401(k) plan fiduciaries to exercise 'extreme care' before adding cryptocurrency options to retirement plan menus. The rescission did not itself force any plan to add crypto; it removed a cautionary guardrail that plan sponsors had cited when declining to offer digital-asset options.

The move fits the administration's broader push to loosen crypto regulation, following a pattern in which officials and Trump-linked figures maintain close ties to the crypto industry. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the federal government should not be dictating retirement investment choices to workers. The action preceded a more sweeping executive order Trump signed in August 2025 directing agencies to formally open 401(k)s to crypto, private equity, and other alternative assets.

Supporters describe the change as expanding worker choice and reducing paternalistic regulation. Critics say retirement savings, unlike venture capital, need protection from volatility that ordinary workers cannot absorb, and note the rollback benefits an industry in which administration-linked individuals hold financial stakes.