Crypto exec: U.S. Labor Department ‘is right’ about 401(k) warning

Crypto exec: U.S. Labor Department ‘is right’ about 401(k) warning

The recent U.S. Labor Department (DOL) warning to fiduciaries who offer cryptocurrency investments inside 401(k) plans makes sense, one crypto executive told Yahoo Finance.

“I think that the Department of Labor is right to say ‘heed caution,’ and don't just jump barrel-in to this because it's popular and you need to offer it — be pragmatic about it,” Chris Kline, COO and co-founder of Bitcoin IRA — an investment platform that allows investors to roll over their IRAs and 401(k)’s into an IRA capable of holding multiple cryptocurrencies — said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “But I think the days of saying 'Bitcoin is a fraud, and it's over, and it's gone,' are behind us.”

The DOL's action came on the heels of President Joe Biden’s executive order on Wednesday acknowledging cryptocurrency assets as prevalent enough to warrant federal studies and possible regulation. The agency's Employee Benefits Security Administration said in a compliance assistance release that plan fiduciaries should exercise “extreme care” before offering cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-tied investments within 401(k) plans. The agency emphasized that the obligation of fiduciaries to act solely in the financial interests of plan participants is among the “highest known to the law.”