U.S. Senator Proposes to Codify the Right to Accumulate Bitcoin in Retirement Accounts

Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville from the state of Alabama introduced a bill authorizing Americans to accumulate cryptocurrency in their 401(k) retirement accounts 401(k).

🚨 NEW BILL ALERT: I just introduced the #FinancialFreedomAct, allowing retirement savers to invest their 401(k) funds as they see fit.

The government should not be in the business of telling retirement savers how they can invest their money.https://t.co/6LGtpxquOW

— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) May 5, 2022

The document, which Tuberville called the Financial Freedom Act, is a response to the Department of Labor’s reaction. Earlier the department expressed concern about Fidelity Investments’ decision to allow clients to integrate Bitcoin into retirement-account packages.

“People work for decades, live within their means, and invest prudently to secure a comfortable retirement. Now the Biden administration has decided to dictate which assets are considered worthy retirement investments […] This is power abuse in full,” wrote Tuberville.

According to him, the bill would prohibit the department from restricting the types of investments for 401(k) packages.

“Whether you believe in the long-term economic prospects of cryptocurrency or not, the choice of what you invest your retirement savings in should be yours, not the government’s,” said Tuberville.

Fidelity Investments’ initiative also concerned Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith. In a letter to CEO Abigail Johnson, they pointed to a potential conflict of interest, as the company has been involved with cryptocurrency products since 2017.

The authors of the letter noted that investments in digital assets carry significant risks.

“Despite the lack of demand—only 2% of employers expressed interest in adding cryptocurrencies to their 401(k) plans—Fidelity decided to move forward, backing investments in Bitcoin,” the senators stressed.

Earlier Warren had repeatedly criticized digital assets. In September 2021 she described cryptocurrencies as “the new shadow banks” that do not protect their users.

In April 2022, the legislator compared the digital-asset market to the 2008 financial crisis.

Earlier in May, Senator Cynthia Lummis disclosed details of a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies in the United States. According to her, the measure would allow the digital-asset class to be integrated into 401(k) retirement account packages.

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