U.S. Senators urge Fidelity to revisit Bitcoin-linked retirement products

Senators Richard Durbin, Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smithsent a letter to Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson, urging a review of including Bitcoin in the retirement accounts 401(k).

It was expected to be available to employees of 23,000 companies that use Fidelity to manage their retirement plans worth $2.7 trillion.

«The recent FTX collapse clearly showed that the digital assets industry has serious problems. It is full of charismatic wunderkinds, opportunistic fraudsters and self-proclaimed investment advisers promoting products without adequate transparency», — the lawmakers explained their move.

The company did not announce the launch of 401(k) retirement accounts with an option to buy Bitcoin.

Earlier this year, Fidelity Investments planned to add such an option in the summer. However, the launch was pushed back to autumn due to regulatory pressure, with the company in close dialogue with regulators.

In April, the U.S. Department of Labor said it had “serious concerns” about Fidelity Investments’ initiative.

In July, Durbin, Warren and Smithsent Johnson a similar request demanding an explanation of the rationale for developing the product.

Earlier, Warren compared cryptocurrencies to the U.S. housing crisis.

In 2020, US retirement plans with investments in the first cryptocurrency were offered by DAiM, as well as Bitwage with Gemini.

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