U.S. Labor Department Picks Up Crypto Torch, Throws Out Previous Warnings
The U.S. Department of Labor has withdrawn its March 2022 guidance cautioning 401(k) fiduciaries against including cryptocurrencies in retirement plans, issuing a new directive that it will no longer single out asset classes for praise or warning. Secretary Lori Chavez‑DeRemer argued that investment decisions belong to plan fiduciaries, not D.C. bureaucrats, and that the previous stance improperly “put a thumb on the scale.” The original warning came just before crypto market failures in 2022, when bitcoin‐linked retirement holdings fell roughly 52%, though those same positions would now be up about 156%.