Trump Allows Inclusion of 'Virtual Assets' in Retirement Plans... Signs Executive Order

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing investments in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) within 401(k) retirement plans. While such investments were not previously prohibited, practical and regulatory restrictions had made them limited in scope; now, with these barriers lifted, expectations are growing that new funds amounting to billions of dollars could flow into the digital asset market.

According to CoinDesk on the 7th (local time), President Trump’s executive order instructs the Department of Labor to prepare new guidelines by considering virtual assets as the same category as traditional asset classes.

Previously, the U.S. Department of Labor had maintained a policy instructing retirement plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme caution” when including virtual assets as an investment option. However, this policy was fully repealed last May. On this day, the White House also released a fact sheet, stating, “Alternative assets such as private equity, real estate, and digital assets offer competitive returns and diversification benefits.”

However, as retirement plans inherently have a strong risk-averse approach, most investments are expected to occur indirectly via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rather than direct ownership of virtual assets. Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of Stock Trader’s Almanac, stated, “I also operate a Bitcoin ETF within my IRA account,” and added, “ETFs are suitable for retirement plans, but holding physical assets entails too much risk.”