News & Analysis as of

Cryptocurrency Fiduciary Duty Department of Labor (DOL)

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Cryptocurrency in 401(k): A Balanced Approach Returns

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On May 28, 2025, the DOL released Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01. The 2025 CAR rescinds the DOL’s previous Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (2022 CAR), issued in 2022, which indicated an unfavorable DOL...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

DOL Rescinds 2022 Guidance Cautioning Against 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies

On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 which rescinds the DOL’s prior Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 which had warned 401(k) plan fiduciaries against adding...more

Woods Rogers

ESBA No Longer Discourages Crypto Investments in 401(k) Plans

Woods Rogers on

Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Rescinds Prior Guidance Limiting 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies Since March of 2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) operated under the guidance of the Compliance...more

Kilpatrick

5 Key Takeaways | Plan Investments and Fiduciary Risk Mitigation in the Trump Era

Kilpatrick on

The landscape for retirement plan investments and fiduciary risks is shifting in the early part of the second Trump Administration, both due to changes in the administration’s policies and developments in the courts....more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Benefits Catch-Up - Q1 2025

With so much happening in the employee benefits world over the last few months, we bring you Benefits Catch-Up, our catch-up contribution to help you keep up with recent developments. Eversheds Sutherland’s US Employee...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Advisors aren’t sold on Bitcoin

On whether to recommend Bitcoin and other digital assets for clients, financial advisers are wary about their fiduciary duty to clients, according to a CoinShares survey....more

Lathrop GPM

The “Deregulatory Initiative” Executive Order: Impact on Employee Benefit Plans

Lathrop GPM on

A February 19 Executive Order, titled “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulatory Initiative,” is aimed at directing the “Administration to focus the...more

The Wagner Law Group

Election 2024: ERISA and the Proposed New Labor Secretary – Look(ing) for the Union Label?

The Wagner Law Group on

President-Elect Trump has proposed Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the next Secretary of Labor. The selection is particularly notable for the clear pro-union leanings of the nominee of a Republican president-elect. Any effort...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Senator wants crypto option, good luck

As Bitcoin starts inching back up, I’m in the black again and expect more clamor for crypto options in 401(k) plans. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, reintroduced legislation to create a law, the Financial Freedom Act...more

Kerr Russell

A Fair Warning: 401(k) Plan Sponsors May be Hard-Pressed to Defend Addition of Cryptocurrency Investment Option

Kerr Russell on

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published guidance earlier this year warning fiduciaries who administer retirement plans to “exercise extreme care” when considering whether to include cryptocurrency as a plan investment...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

DOL Expresses Extreme Concern Over Prudence of Cryptocurrency Investments in 401(k) Plans

On March 10, 2022, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) published Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (Release) addressing “cryptocurrency” investment in 401(k) retirement plans. In its Release, the DOL expressed...more

Verrill

Department of Labor Guidance and Federal Initiatives Counsel a Wait-and-See Approach for 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Interested in...

Verrill on

On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor published Compliance Assistance Release 2022-01, 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies”. The Release strongly discourages the addition of cryptocurrency (and other digital...more

Lathrop GPM

Cryptocurrency as a 401(K) Plan Investment Option

Lathrop GPM on

Fidelity Investments recently announced it is making a Bitcoin account available as an investment option for 401(k) plans, fueling a debate about cryptocurrencies and fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA. In what might...more

Laner Muchin, Ltd.

DOL Warns Against Plan Investments in Cryptocurrency

Laner Muchin, Ltd. on

Given the current market volatility, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) concerns related to the addition of cryptocurrencies in qualified retirement plans seems prescient. In Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01, the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

DOL Warns Employers About Including Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plan Investment Options

Late last month, Fidelity Investments created a minor firestorm when it announced that it would allow retirement plan sponsors to offer bitcoin as an investment option for participants. In reaction to this move, the...more

Goodwin

Cryptocurrencies As Investment Options In 401(k) Plans

Goodwin on

On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Compliance Assistance Release (the “Release”) addressing its views on the availability of cryptocurrencies on 401(k) investment platforms. This guidance comes...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Every Little Thing … Considerations Before Adding Crypto to a 401(k) Plan

Fidelity Investments recently announced that it will offer its 401(k) plan clients the opportunity to offer bitcoin as a 401(k) plan investment option later this year. While this may sound intriguing to some plan fiduciaries...more

Kilpatrick

Brokerage Window Fiduciary Duties in Light of DOL Cryptocurrency Guidance

Kilpatrick on

The DOL’s (DOL) recent warning that it is launching a new investigative program aimed at plans that offer investments in cryptocurrency and related products, including through brokerage windows, sent shockwaves through the...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

DOL Raises “Serious Concerns” About 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies

On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”, available here) which cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before they consider...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

DOL Warns Sponsors against Permitting Cryptocurrency-Related Investments on 401(k) Plan Investment Menus

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) last month issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 - 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies” (the “Release”) in which it strongly cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to use...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Crypto in your Retirement Plan? The DOL Won’t Like It.

Poyner Spruill LLP on

Cryptocurrency is becoming more popular, so it is natural that you or your participants may be wanting to add a cryptocurrency investment option to your retirement plan.  But can you include a cryptocurrency option without...more

McDermott Will & Emery

When Are Cryptocurrencies Appropriate Investments for Retirement Plans and IRAs? DOL Cautions 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries to Exercise...

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets—such as bitcoin, ether and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—have become some of the hottest investment products in recent years. The growing interest has inevitably led to retirement plan...more

Foodman CPAs & Advisors

U.S. Department Of Labor Has “Serious Concerns” Over 401(K) Plan’s Investments In Cryptocurrencies

The U.S. Department of Labor cautions plan fiduciaries to exercise extreme care before they consider adding a cryptocurrency option to a 401(k) plan’s investment menu for plan participants....more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - March 2022

In the March Monthly Minute, we review IRS proposed regulations implementing the SECURE Act, DOL guidance on cryptocurrency investments, and the extended National Emergency “Outbreak Period” guidance. Crypto-Curious vs....more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Fiduciaries versus FOMO: Department of Labor Releases 401(k) Cryptocurrency Guidance

Regulators may be nervous about workers staking their retirements on crypto. The United States Department Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (the “DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01...more

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