Trump to Sign Order Opening $9T Retirement Market to Crypto

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order this week opening the $9 trillion U.S. retirement market to cryptocurrencies, gold, and private equity, the Financial Times reports. The directive would instruct federal regulators to remove barriers preventing these alternative assets from entering professionally managed 401(k) plans.

The order will direct the Department of Labor, the Treasury Department, and the IRS to review and revise rules that currently block digital assets, metals, private loans, and corporate buyout funds from retirement accounts. Trump plans to sign the order in the coming days, according to people briefed on the matter. 

In May, the Labor Department rescinded Biden-era guidance that urged plan managers to exercise “extreme care” before including cryptocurrency in retirement accounts. Trump's team characterized this as rolling back regulatory overreach.

Several states have already begun incorporating crypto into retirement planning. North Carolina lawmakers introduced bills in March to permit up to 5% of certain retirement fund balances to be allocated to crypto assets. Michigan and Wisconsin pension systems have disclosed multimillion-dollar positions in spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, according to public filings.

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The Trump directive echoes earlier congressional efforts to expand 401(k) investment options. In September 2022, Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) introduced the Retirement Savings Modernization Act, which proposed amending the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to clarify that fiduciaries may include digital assets, private equity, and venture capital in defined contribution plans.