President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would direct regulators to open the $9 trillion U.S. retirement market to crypto, gold, private equity, and other alternative assets. The order, expected before July 21, instructs agencies to eliminate barriers that prevent professionally managed 401(k) plans from offering exposure to these asset classes. The Department of Labor already reversed its 2022 guidance in May, removing restrictions that discouraged crypto in retirement accounts. Now the White House wants to go further—by creating safe harbor provisions to shield plan administrators from liability when offering complex, less liquid investments.
But here’s the legal wall: Even deregulation-friendly SEC chairs can’t override ERISA. Congress would need to rewrite portions of the law to allow unregistered crypto products in qualified plans without violating fiduciary standards. Plan sponsors are legally required to act in participants’ best financial interest. That means favoring diversified, liquid, and proven assets. Speculative coins like Dogecoin don’t meet that test.
The House passed three crypto bills on July 17: the GENIUS Act (stablecoin framework), the CLARITY Act (digital asset classification), and the Anti-CBDC Act (blocks a central bank digital currency without congressional approval). GENIUS cleared the Senate and awaits Trump’s signature. These bills support the broader push to legitimize crypto, but none of them touch ERISA. That’s the gap.
Trump’s SEC chair, Paul Atkins, is a known crypto advocate. His campaign launched a meme coin. His family office holds over $2 billion in digital assets. The administration sees crypto as modernization. But fiduciary duty laws don’t bend for hype. Betting pensions on Dogecoin violates the core principle of retirement law. The White House says the order will “restore prosperity for everyday Americans.” That’s the pitch. The legal system may have other ideas.
Sources:
https://cryptobriefing.com/trump-401k-crypto-order/
https://cryptonews.com/news/trumo-admin-weighs-crypto-retirement-portfolios/
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-07-house-landmark-crypto-trump.html
