Key Highlights
The U.S. Department of Labor on March 30 proposed a rule that would make it easier for 401(k) plans to include alternative assets such as crypto, private equity, real estate, commodities, and private credit.
The proposal creates process-based safe harbors for fiduciaries that carefully assess factors, including performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, benchmarks, and complexity.
The rule follows President Donald Trump’s August 2025 executive order, and it entered the public stage after completing White House review last week.
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would give 401(k) plan fiduciaries a clearer path to offer alternative assets, including cryptocurrency and private-market investments, inside retirement plans. The proposal was issued by the Employee Benefits Security Administration on March 30.
The rule lays out how fiduciaries can evaluate those products while staying within their duties under ERISA. Under the proposal, plan managers would need to assess factors such as performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, benchmarks, and complexity before selecting an investment option.
A central part of the proposal is a legal safe harbor. Many employers and plan sponsors have avoided private assets and digital assets out of concern that offering them could increase litigation risk if the investments underperform or carry high fees.
The proposal follows Trump’s August 2025 executive order directing the Labor Department to revisit the treatment of alternative assets in retirement plans. Bloomberg Law reported that the proposal completed White House regulatory review on March 24, clearing the way for publication.
The Labor Department says the proposal would apply to a retirement system that serves more than 90 million Americans. EBSA said private retirement plans under its oversight hold about $13.8 trillion in assets, while Bloomberg Law estimated the 401(k) market affected by the rule at roughly $12 trillion.
The next step is public feedback. Bloomberg Law said the proposal will be subject to a 60-day comment period once it is published in the Federal Register.
