U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters could soon return to head the House Financial Services Committee if Democrats perform as expected in the November elections, and she is calling on the Labor Department to back down from a proposal that would encourage 401(k) retirement plan managers to offer alternative investments, including cryptocurrency.
In March, the Department of Labor proposed a rule to implement what President Donald Trump had ordered: that citizens’ 401(k) accounts be open for investments in private equity, private credit, real estate, commodities and digital assets. Waters filed a detailed 11-page comment letter with the department this week, asking that the idea be withdrawn.
“It is inconsistent for the Department to bless digital assets as suitable for the retirement savings of ordinary Americans while the [Securities and Exchange Commission] “The risk is not limited to the volatility of individual tokens, severe as that is. It reflects a broader deterioration in the digital asset ecosystem, where trading activity, developer engagement, and user participation have collapsed.”
