"Buy coins with your retirement pension"...Trump allows virtual asset investment in 401(k)

First action after withdrawal of Department of Labor guideline

Attention on $9 trillion 401(k) fund movement

Forecast of multi-million dollar inflows into the market

Surge in Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing cryptocurrencies to be included in retirement pension accounts such as 401(k), opening the door for multi-million dollar funds to flow into the digital asset market. As a result, major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, are showing a collective upward trend.

According to CNBC on the 7th (local time), President Trump signed an executive order allowing virtual asset investment in the nation's main retirement pension account, the 401(k), on this day. Currently, the U.S. retirement pension market is valued at about $43 trillion, with about $9 trillion deposited in 401(k) accounts.

This is comparable in size to the total market capitalization of virtual currencies worldwide. The specialized media outlet CoinDesk analyzed, "Hundreds of millions of dollars may flow into cryptocurrencies and related Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), including Bitcoin."

Although investment in cryptocurrencies through 401(k)s was not explicitly prohibited until now, the U.S. Department of Labor had provided guidance to fiduciaries stating, "Exercise extreme caution before including cryptocurrencies in 401(k) products." This guideline was officially withdrawn in May.

Upon news of President Trump's signing, the prices of major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, collectively rose. As of around 7 p.m. that day, Bitcoin was trading at $117,595, up 2.1% from the previous day. It was the first time in a month that Bitcoin surpassed $117,000.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, rose 5.67% to $3,904, nearing the $4,000 mark. Ripple jumped 9.56%, while Solana and Dogecoin also increased by 3.59% and 7.65%, respectively.

By Dayeon Lim, allopen@hankyung.com