WASHINGTON — As 2026 begins, retirement plan providers and asset managers are pressing to add crypto ETFs and private credit strategies to 401(k) investment menus that hold trillions of dollars for U.S. workers. The momentum follows a policy shift in Washington that is dialing back prior federal skepticism toward alternative assets, even as fiduciary liability and investor-protection concerns remain unresolved, Jan. 6, 2026.
President Donald Trump’s executive order on “alternative assets” for 401(k) investors set a 180-day clock for the Labor Department to revisit past guidance and consider clearer standards, including potential “safe harbors,” while urging the SEC to look for ways to expand access. The order’s definition of alternative assets includes private market debt and funds investing in digital assets — a lane that plan sponsors and product designers say could be filled most easily by crypto ETFs.
In parallel, the Labor Department has already rolled back a high-profile warning. In Compliance Assistance Release 2025-01, the Employee Benefits Security Administration rescinded its 2022 “extreme care” language on cryptocurrency in 401(k) menus and said the agency was returning to an approach that neither endorses nor disapproves of plan fiduciaries who decide digital assets belong in their lineups.
Separately, Labor also moved to reopen the door for other alternatives inside professionally managed funds. In an Aug. 12, 2025, news release, the agency rescinded a 2021 statement that had discouraged fiduciaries from considering alternative assets in 401(k) menus. “Instead of allowing Washington bureaucrats to call the shots, we believe plan fiduciaries should decide which retirement investment options are best for hardworking Americans,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said.
Why crypto ETFs are the easiest crypto route into 401(k)s
For many plan sponsors, the most straightforward path is likely to be crypto ETFs rather than direct crypto holdings. The products trade on regulated exchanges, can fit into familiar plan plumbing and may be easier to monitor than a custody-and-wallet setup.
The underlying market remains volatile. The SEC’s approval of the first U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs in early 2024 helped mainstream access to the asset class, but it also made price swings easier to import into ordinary portfolios. A Reuters report from January 2024 described the approvals as a watershed for the industry, while noting the long-running debate over whether crypto belongs in traditional investment accounts.
The idea of bringing crypto into retirement plans is also not new. In April 2022, Fidelity said it would let employers offer bitcoin exposure inside 401(k) plans, an early attempt to normalize retirement access to digital assets. Reuters reported at the time that Fidelity would be the first major retirement plan provider to roll out such a product, underscoring how quickly the market moved from “should we?” to “how?”
That “how” is now shifting toward crypto ETFs because they can be added like other funds — but critics say that convenience is part of the danger. In a 401(k) context, easier access can mean impulsive reallocations during market stress, especially if crypto ETFs appear in brokerage windows marketed as “more choices” without clear guardrails.
Private credit joins the alternative-asset push
Private credit — loans made outside public markets, often by asset managers — is also moving closer to the 401(k) perimeter, typically through target-date funds, managed accounts or other “packaged” structures meant to manage liquidity and valuation challenges. In a November 2025 speech, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda argued that target-date funds are designed for long holding periods and that relying only on public markets can limit diversification, a framing that aligns with industry efforts to place private credit inside default-type options.
Product makers are already positioning for a broader rollout. Goldman Sachs and T. Rowe Price told Reuters in September 2025 that their partnership would include alternative investments such as private credit and private equity, with retirement-account offerings expected to follow.
Continuity matters: the policy debate has been building for years. A Reuters report from June 2020 noted that Labor guidance at the time cleared a pathway for private equity exposure in retirement plans through professionally managed vehicles, setting a precedent that private credit proponents now cite.
Even with the rulemaking push, the core risk question is unchanged: crypto ETFs can magnify volatility, and private credit can be hard to value and hard to sell quickly. Until the Labor Department completes its 180-day review and plan sponsors decide how to apply fiduciary standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the expansion of crypto ETFs and private credit in 401(k)s is likely to be uneven — but the pressure to bring these products to retail retirement savers is not slowing.
