U.S. House Democrat, who may soon run key committee, condemns crypto in 401(k)s

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters may soon return to the helm of the House Financial Services Committee if Democrats perform as expected in the November elections, and she’s asking that the Department of Labor back away from a proposal that would encourage the managers of 401(k) retirement plans to offer alternative investments, including cryptocurrency.

In March, the Labor Department proposed a rule to implement what President Donald Trump had ordered: that people’s 401(k) accounts be open to investments in private equity, private credit, real estate, commodities and digital assets. Waters filed a detailed, 11-page comment letter with the department this week, requesting that the idea be withdrawn.

“It is incoherent for the department to bless digital assets as suitable for the retirement savings of everyday Americans while the [Securities and Exchange Commission] is still building the investor-protection regime intended to make those same assets safe for ordinary investors,” Waters argued in the letter. “The hazard is not confined to the volatility of individual tokens, severe as that is. It reflects a broader deterioration across the digital‑asset ecosystem, where trading activity, developer engagement, and user participation have collapsed.”