Department of Labor rescinds guidance discouraging crypto in 401(k)s

U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has rescinded a 2022 compliance release that previously discouraged fiduciaries from including cryptocurrency options in 401(k) retirement plans. The 2022 guidance directed plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before adding cryptocurrency to investment menus. “This language deviated from the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and marked a departure from the department’s historically neutral, principled-based approach to fiduciary investment decisions,” Department of Labor said in a statement. “The Biden administration’s department of labor made a choice to put their thumb on the scale,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. “We’re rolling back this overreach and making it clear that investment decisions should be made by fiduciaries, not D.C. bureaucrats.” By rescinding the 2022 guidance, the department said it reaffirms its neutral stance, neither endorsing, nor disapproving of, plan fiduciaries who conclude that the inclusion of cryptocurrency in a plan’s investment menu is appropriate. Publicly traded companies in the cryptocurrency space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Bitfarms (BITF), Coinbase (COIN), Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), Strategy (MSTR), Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG) and TeraWulf (WULF).

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