Crypto in 401(k) Plans: The Department of Labor’s Guidance
The US Department of Labor (DOL) released fresh guidance on cryptocurrency investments for fiduciaries of retirement plans. This article describes the DOL’s guidance and its implications for retirement plans.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced on May 28, 2025, that it has rescinded its 2022 guidance on cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans, jettisoning principles that discouraged fiduciaries from including crypto options in retirement plans. Citing risks associated with crypto investing, the Biden administration’s DOL had previously issued directions to plan fiduciaries to apply “extreme care” when considering crypto options in its Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 note.
The current administration appears more neutral about plan fiduciaries that decide to include crypto. However, courts also play a role in enforcing fiduciary duties—and their decisions don’t always match the DOL’s views.
What does the DOL note say?
The DOL’s news release reverses the previous administration’s stricter stance, saying it strayed from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s “historically neutral, principled-based” approach to evaluating investment suitability by warning against crypto specifically. The announcement explains that its newly established “neutral stance” means that it is “neither endorsing, nor disapproving of, plan fiduciaries who conclude that the inclusion of cryptocurrency in a plan’s investment menu is appropriate.”
What does this mean for Betterment at Work?
401(k) plans that Betterment administers as a 3(38) investment fiduciary currently do not offer crypto investment options. Betterment regularly reviews investments on an ongoing basis to ensure we’ve performed our due diligence and fiduciary duty in selecting investments suitable for participants' desired investing objectives. While the DOL’s guidance has changed, we continue to prefer not including crypto as an option within plans, given we favor seeing consistency over time in the DOL’s messaging and in the risk profile of crypto before making it available.
We will continue to monitor both the evolution of the crypto market as well as industry and regulator news. Betterment will always rigorously select and monitor investment options as a fiduciary, while seeking to provide the flexibility in investment options that plan sponsors and participants desire. We will continue to monitor ongoing developments and keep you informed.
The above material and content should not be considered to be a recommendation. Investing in digital assets is highly speculative and volatile, and only suitable for investors who are able to bear the risk of potential loss and experience sharp drawdowns. Digital assets are not legal tender and are not backed by the U.S. government. Digital assets are not subject to FDIC insurance or SIPC protections.