The Most Conservative Money in the U.S. Is Eyeing Cryptocurrency

On March 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor released a 164-page proposed rule titled “Fiduciary Duties Regarding Selected Investment Alternatives.” The core of this document is to formally open the door to alternative assets for the U.S. 401(k) market, which exceeds $10 trillion in size, with digital assets waiting behind that door. Simultaneously, the proposed rule proactively establishes a legal firewall for fiduciaries.

Behind this rule lies a complete reversal of the U.S. regulatory stance. In March 2022, during the Biden administration, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued a sternly worded guidance warning plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before considering adding 暗号currencies to 401(k) investment options. The document also listed five specific risk reasons: extreme price volatility, participants’ lack of judgment capabilities, custody and recordkeeping concerns, questionable valuation methods, and an uncertain regulatory environment.

The implication was clear: if you add them, we will investigate you.

Three years later, in May 2025, the same department under the Trump administration publicly withdrew this document, replacing it with a completely opposite logic: crypto assets are legitimate alternative investments; fiduciaries can make their own judgments, with the government neither endorsing nor blocking them.

In August of the same year, Trump signed Executive Order 14330, “Making It Easier for 401(k) Investors to Access Alternative Assets,” which included digital assets within the category of alternative assets, alongside private equity, real estate, commodities, and infrastructure financing. The order’s wording regarding digital assets was deliberately cautious: it did not permit direct holding of cryptocurrencies, but rather the allocation to actively managed digital asset investment vehicles.

A Fence Containing $10 Trillion

To understand why this latest proposed rule is important, one must first understand what kind of fence 401(k) is. The 401(k) is the most prevalent employer-sponsored retirement savings plan in the U.S., similar to China’s enterprise annuity but on a much larger scale. Further Reading: Retirement Fund Booster in Place? How Big is the 401(k) Market?

Latest data from the Investment Company Institute shows that as of the end of 2025, total U.S. retirement assets reached $49.1 trillion, accounting for 34% of all U.S. household financial assets. Within this, IRA (Individual Retirement Account) assets accounted for another $19.2 trillion, and 401(k) plan assets totaled $10.1 trillion.

For a long time, this massive pool of capital was invested almost exclusively in stocks and bonds. Although the law does not explicitly prohibit alternative assets, over 96% of デフィned contribution (DC) plans like 401(k)s and 403(b)s have steered clear of them. The core reason is singular: fear of litigation.

Since 2016, there have been over 500 fee-related lawsuits against such plans, with total settlement payouts by plan sponsors exceeding $1 billion. The rational choice for fiduciaries became: don’t seek merit, just avoid blame.

Safe Harbor: A Shield of Exemption for Fiduciaries

The most substantive change in this new proposed rule is the introduction of a “safe harbor” mechanism.

The logic is simple: since fiduciaries (employers or those appointed by employers) are afraid to act due to fear of being sued, give them an operational manual. As long as they follow the steps, courts should presume their decisions are prudent, significantly narrowing the room for plaintiff attorneys.

Specifically, the rule requires fiduciaries, when selecting an investment option that includes alternative assets, to conduct an objective, systematic assessment across six dimensions:

• Performance: Cannot rely solely on absolute returns; must consider long-term expected returns adjusted for risk (e.g., Sharpe Ratio).
• 料金: Alternative assets typically have higher fees. Fiduciaries must demonstrate that higher fees deliver superior value (e.g., excellent diversification capabilities).
• Liquidity: Pension accounts need to handle participant loans, withdrawals upon termination, etc., at any time. Fiduciaries must ensure the fund has adequate liquidity management plans.
• 評価: Must ensure the asset has an independent, conflict-free, and timely valuation process (for non-publicly traded assets).
• Benchmarking: Must identify a reasonable performance benchmark for the asset.
• Complexity: The new rule specifically emphasizes that if the fiduciary does not understand digital assets themselves, a prudent process requires them to hire a qualified third-party investment advisor.

This framework essentially transforms “prudence” from a vague moral standard into a checklist.

One boundary needs clarification. This safe harbor mechanism covers “selected investment alternatives” — the investment options formally listed after being screened by the plan fiduciary. The original text explicitly excludes “self-directed brokerage accounts” from the definition: investments chosen by participants themselves through a brokerage window are not covered by this rule’s safe harbor.

This distinction means: At the listed-option level, crypto assets will not appear in the form of “buying Bitcoin directly.” A more realistic path is being packaged into an asset allocation fund — for example, a Target-Date Fund (TDF, which automatically adjusts risk based on retirement year) allocating a portion of its portfolio to actively managed funds investing in digital assets, thereby holding exposure indirectly through the portfolio.

Executive Order 14330’s wording on digital assets uses precisely this structure: “holding actively managed investment vehicles that invest in digital assets.”

Not Just a Federal Story

More noteworthy is the spillover effect of this policy shift.

While the federal level is loosening the reins, states are following suit. On February 25, 2026, the Indiana legislature passed a bill requiring certain state retirement plans to provide access to at least one crypto investment option through a self-directed brokerage account by July 1, 2027. States like Texas, Florida, and Wyoming are also pushing for digital asset inclusion in public retirement systems in their own ways.

From the industry side, the Department of Labor admitted that for the three beneficiary groups — private equity, hedge funds, and digital asset investment institutions — there is currently insufficient data to assess their numbers and scale. It has specifically opened a comment channel to collect industry information.

The Department of Labor acknowledged in the document that there is currently insufficient data to assess the number and scale of institutions that will market digital asset products to the 401(k) market and has specifically opened a comment period to gather industry information.

When the world’s largest pool of long-term capital begins, under legal protection and through scientific allocation models, to systematically incorporate cryptocurrencies as underlying assets, it not only signifies a massive inflow of long-term, stable capital but also represents the full establishment of digital assets within the mainstream societal credit system.

Of course, after the rule’s release, there will be a 60-day public comment period. Following that, the Department of Labor will revise it based on feedback, then submit it to the White House for approval before final implementation. The entire process could conclude by the end of 2026, or possibly later.

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