U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins said in a recent interview that the time has come to allow cryptocurrencies in 401(k) retirement accounts. Atkins said the SEC is actively working on a framework that would let workers allocate a portion of their retirement savings to digital assets through professionally managed options, with guardrails to protect retirees.
“We’re studying how to let people gain exposure to crypto through managed accounts inside 401(k)s… I think now is the right time to move forward cautiously, with protective guardrails for retirees,” Atkins stated.
Trump Opened the Door, But Opposition Remains Fierce
Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August 2025 that opened the door for alternative assets—including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—to enter traditional retirement plans. But the move has drawn sharp criticism. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Atkins earlier this month demanding details on the plan. “Given the volatility risks, lack of market transparency, and potential conflicts of interest, I worry that allowing these high-risk assets into such critical retirement investments could jeopardize the retirement security of millions of Americans,” Warren wrote. She cited a 2024 Government Accountability Office study showing crypto assets have extreme volatility and no standard model to predict future returns.
Atkins countered that many people already hold crypto indirectly through their managed retirement funds. “What we’re talking about now is making that option available directly in 401(k) plans with proper safeguards,” he said. The SEC chair emphasized that the agency will proceed “extremely carefully” and focus initially on private securities and private equity funds rather than publicly traded crypto assets.
Labor unions including the American Federation of Teachers and AFL-CIO also voiced concerns that tokenizing financial products could weaken SEC oversight. Atkins responded: “We are discussing 401(k)s, and we have to be very careful about different markets. Many people are already exposed to these assets through their managed retirement funds.”
Early Movers Are In; The Rest Sit Out
A few retirement plan providers have already dipped their toes into crypto. ForUsAll, an early mover, lets about 50 employers—mostly small-to-midsize businesses and crypto-native firms—offer crypto investment options in their 401(k) plans. Employees can allocate up to 5% of their retirement savings to digital assets, with custody and trading handled through institutional partners like Coinbase.
Fidelity Investments, one of the largest 401(k) administrators in the U.S., also offers a “Digital Assets Account” that allows employers to include Bitcoin in their plans. But adoption depends on employer approval, and allocation caps are typically low. Meanwhile, giants like Vanguard have flatly refused to offer direct crypto exposure. Most employers stay on the sidelines, citing regulatory uncertainty, fiduciary concerns, and market volatility. Crypto inside retirement plans remains a niche experiment.
SEC and CFTC Join Forces to Close Regulatory Gaps
On the same day, Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael S. Selig held a joint meeting at CFTC headquarters. The agenda: coordinating the two agencies’ rules and fulfilling Trump’s promise to make “America the global crypto capital.” In a joint statement, the chairs said: “For too long, market participants have been forced to navigate unclear, inconsistently designed regulatory boundaries based on past jurisdictional lines… This event continues our broader coordination effort to ensure innovation takes root on American soil, develops under American law, and serves American investors, consumers, and economic leadership.” The meeting signaled a fresh push to fill regulatory gaps between the two watchdogs.