Crypto News

The White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has finished reviewing a Labor Department proposal tied to alternative assets in retirement plans. The review concluded on March 24. The action was marked "consistent with change" and classified as economically significant.

The Department of Labor is now expected to release the proposed rule for a 60-day public comment period. That period typically leads to revisions before a final rule is published.

The proposal was initiated under a presidential executive order signed on Aug. 7, 2025. The order directed federal agencies to expand access to alternative assets inside defined-contribution retirement plans. It specifically covered digital assets, private equity, and real estate.

The order also called for coordination between the Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both agencies were asked to support rule changes aligned with the broader policy shift.

The Labor Department signaled this direction in May 2025. At that point, it rescinded a 2022 compliance release that had told fiduciaries to exercise extreme caution before adding crypto to 401(k) plans. That reversal reflected the federal government's changing stance on digital assets and retirement investing.

The U.S. retirement market held a record $48.1 trillion in financial assets as of Sept. 30, 2025, according to the Investment Company Institute. That scale makes the retirement channel a significant potential market for crypto-linked products.

State-level momentum is also building. Indiana passed a bill on Feb. 25 requiring certain state retirement and savings plans to offer a self-directed brokerage option. That option must include at least one crypto investment by July 1, 2027. The bill would give Indiana residents the ability to hold Bitcoin and other digital assets inside their retirement accounts for the first time.

The federal proposal has not been finalized. It will go through the public comment process before any rule takes effect.