White House Order Opens a Path for Digital Assets in 401(k) Plans
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reconsider barriers to alternative assets in defined-contribution retirement plans. The order expressly included actively managed investment vehicles that invest in digital assets, creating a potential path for Bitcoin exposure within the enormous U.S. 401(k) market.
On August 7, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14330, directing the Department of Labor and other federal regulators to revisit the treatment of alternative assets in 401(k) and other participant-directed defined-contribution retirement plans. The order defined alternative assets broadly and expressly included holdings in actively managed investment vehicles investing in digital assets.
The order did not place Bitcoin directly into anyone’s retirement account and did not eliminate fiduciary duties. Instead, it instructed the Labor Department to reexamine guidance under ERISA, clarify the fiduciary process for funds containing alternative assets, and consider rules or safe harbors. It also directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider regulatory changes that could facilitate access through participant-directed retirement plans.
The Bitcoin significance was the scale and nature of the channel. More than 90 million Americans participated in employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans according to the White House. Even indirect Bitcoin exposure through managed products would place the asset inside one of the central mechanisms for long-term household saving in the United States. The order therefore concerned institutional access, not merely another trading product.
Historically, the action reflected the shift from debating whether regulated investors could gain Bitcoin exposure to debating how deeply that exposure could enter conventional retirement architecture. Actual product adoption still depended on later agency action, plan fiduciaries, and investment managers, but August 7 established the federal policy direction.