Trump to Sign Executive Order Allowing Crypto in 401(k) Retirement Plans
In a move set to rattle the foundations of traditional retirement investing, President Donald Trump is issuing a new executive order aimed at unlocking 401(k) accounts for exposure to crypto, private equity, and other alternative assets.
The order, expected to be signed Thursday, pushes U.S. regulators to reconsider long-standing restrictions on what retirement savers can invest in. For decades, 401(k) plans have mostly stuck to public stocks and bonds, partly due to legal risk and the reluctance of plan administrators to touch complex or illiquid products. That cautious era may now be ending.
Trump’s directive instructs the Department of Labor to revisit its guidance under ERISA and coordinate with the Treasury and SEC on potential rule changes. The goal? Make room for assets once considered too risky or obscure for everyday savers.
This isn’t just about finance—it’s political too. The order closely aligns with Trump’s broader push to embrace cryptocurrency. In recent months, he’s hosted blockchain leaders at the White House, created a new federal crypto advisory role, and even called for a national Bitcoin reserve. Lawsuits against major platforms like Coinbase and Uniswap have been halted or dropped altogether, signaling a much softer stance toward the sector.
For asset managers and crypto firms, the opportunity is enormous. With more than $12 trillion sitting in 401(k) accounts, the possibility of tapping into even a fraction of that capital has Wall Street—and Web3—buzzing. Many traditional institutions have already maxed out their private asset exposure elsewhere, and retirement accounts are seen as the next great frontier.
Still, the move isn’t without controversy. Critics warn of higher fees, reduced transparency, and legal challenges if things go south. But for Trump, this is part of a bigger bet: that America’s future wealth will be built not just on public stocks, but on innovation, disruption, and decentralization.
Source: Bloomberg
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Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
