Final 401(k) crypto rule reaches White House for last review

The Department of Labor's final rule on alternative assets in 401(k) plans has arrived at the White House, per Cointelegraph. That's the last stop before the text goes public — the review stage where the clock either runs out or the door swings open.

The stakes are enormous. US retirement accounts hold trillions of dollars, and the rule governs whether alternative assets — a bucket that crypto advocates have spent years pushing Bitcoin into — can sit inside them. Cointelegraph framed it bluntly: trillions in retirement money could soon have a door into crypto.

401(k) plans have historically stuck to stocks, bonds and plain-vanilla funds. Alternative assets like private equity, real estate and digital currencies have largely been fenced off, largely because of concerns over liquidity, valuation and fiduciary risk for plan sponsors.

That fence is what this rulemaking targets. Clearing the White House review is typically the final procedural hurdle before an agency publishes a rule and starts the countdown to it taking effect — though the timing and the final language aren't public yet.

Cointelegraph didn't stop at the news, tossing a question back at readers: would you put BTC in your retirement? For now, the answer is hypothetical. The paperwork is in, the decision isn't.