{"id":414642,"date":"2022-03-11T08:36:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T05:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/us-labor-dept-warns-of-crypto-risks-in-retirement-plans\/"},"modified":"2022-03-11T08:36:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T05:36:16","slug":"us-labor-dept-warns-of-crypto-risks-in-retirement-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/us-labor-dept-warns-of-crypto-risks-in-retirement-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"# US Labor Dept warns of crypto risks in retirement plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297d8e78e50\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297d8e78e50\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/us-labor-dept-warns-of-crypto-risks-in-retirement-plans\/#%E2%80%9D_US_Labor_Dept_warns_of_crypto_risks_in_retirement_plans_%E2%80%9C\" >&#8221; US Labor Dept warns of crypto risks in retirement plans &#8220;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9D_US_Labor_Dept_warns_of_crypto_risks_in_retirement_plans_%E2%80%9C\"><\/span>&#8221; US Labor Dept warns of crypto risks in retirement plans &#8220;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDMvMzM2ZWUwNjAtMGJlMi00MmYwLWE1MTctN2QwY2NlM2UxYzJmLmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-128018ef>The US Department of Labor (DOL) has told 401(k) investors to &#8220;exercise extreme care&#8221; when dealing with cryptocurrencies and other digital assets citing fraud, theft, and financial loss as \u201csignificant risks\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a compliance <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/agencies\/ebsa\/employers-and-advisers\/plan-administration-and-compliance\/compliance-assistance-releases\/2022-01#footnotes\">report<\/a>, released on Thursday, the DOL offered a stark warning to employers that seek to increase their 401(k) exposure to cryptocurrencies, stating that any significant crypto investments within company-sponsored retirement accounts may attract legal attention.<\/p>\n<p>A 401(k) is a retirement savings plan offered by most American employers that extend tax advantages and long-term financial security to those that opt-in. <\/p>\n<p>Regarding the legislation surrounding 401(k) investments, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not specifically detail which asset classes must be included in a 401(k). However, it does instruct fiduciaries to \u201cshow the care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent person would exercise\u201d when making investment choices \u201cin order to minimize the risk of large losses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ERISA also extends a legal obligation to fiduciaries to monitor all investments on an ongoing basis in order to further mitigate any losses. This means that extremely volatile assets such as cryptocurrencies may yet prove to be increasingly ambiguous in regards to 401(k) investments. <\/p>\n<p>The recent DOL announcement comes as an increasing number of financial services begin to market crypto as an investment choice for 401(k) fixed retirement accounts, including ForUsAll Inc. which <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/06\/22\/cryptocurrency-401k-plans\/\">announced<\/a> a strategic partnership with Coinbase in June last year. <\/p>\n<p>In a DOL blog <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.dol.gov\/2022\/03\/10\/cryptocurrency-concerns-why-were-working-to-protect-retirement-savings-from-volatile-digital-investments\">post<\/a> that accompanied the compliance report, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Assistant Secretary, Ali Khawar, proffered caution to fiduciaries, stating, \u201cThe retirement savings of America\u2019s workers and their families represent years of hard work and sacrifice\u2026 and [they] must be carefully protected.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Khawar continued to say that the DOL had significant concerns for long-term investments in any form of digital asset:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;At this early stage in the history of cryptocurrencies, however, the [DOL] has serious concerns about plans&#8217; decisions to expose participants to direct investments in cryptocurrencies or related products, such as NFTs, coins and crypto assets&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Related: <\/strong><strong>The tax advantages of crypto in a 401(k) can be eye opening<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While President Joe Biden\u2019s recent executive order on cryptocurrencies highlighted the risks associated with investments in digital assets, actual regulatory clarity on cryptocurrencies and other digital assets has yet to be formulated, exacerbating confusion about what investors can and can\u2019t do with their digital assets. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/us-labor-dept-warns-of-crypto-risks-in-retirement-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8221; US Labor Dept warns of crypto risks in retirement plans &#8220; The US Department of Labor (DOL) has told 401(k) investors to &#8220;exercise extreme care&#8221; when dealing with cryptocurrencies and other digital assets citing fraud, theft, and financial loss as \u201csignificant risks\u201d.\u00a0 In a compliance report, released on Thursday, the DOL offered a stark&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":414643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDMvMzM2ZWUwNjAtMGJlMi00MmYwLWE1MTctN2QwY2NlM2UxYzJmLmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[110321,75269,74355,73711,70934],"class_list":["post-414642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-savings-accounts","tag-us-government","tag-adoption","tag-investments","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}