Publication
A Return to Form: Department of Labor Walks Back Crypto Warning for 401(k) Plans
In Compliance Assistance Release 2025-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) rescinded its prior guidance that cautioned fiduciaries against offering cryptocurrency investments in their retirement plans.
In an earlier Compliance Assistance Release, the Department stated its intention to scrutinize the inclusion of cryptocurrency assets and crypto-derivative products as investment options in ERISA-covered plans. In particular, the Department expressed the view that offering exposure to this asset class – either in the plan’s investment lineup or via a brokerage window – may run contrary to ERISA’s fiduciary principles. The Department concluded that plan fiduciaries should exercise “extreme care” when evaluating these alternative investment options. For more information about this now-outdated guidance, see our article “To the Moon After All? DOL Targets Cryptocurrency in Retirement Plans.”
In the Release, the Department found that the “extreme care” standard “deviated from the requirements of ERISA and marked a departure from the Department’s historically neutral, principles-based approach to fiduciary investment decisions.” It is important to note that the Release does not approve or disapprove of the inclusion of cryptocurrency as a plan investment. Rather, the Department intends to evaluate a plan fiduciary’s decisions in this respect under a more traditional framework, which considers all the relevant facts and circumstances.
For more, please see the Release here.
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