News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Cryptocurrency Employee Benefits

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Bitcoin Over $120K? That Doesn’t Mean It Belongs in Your 401(k)

Bitcoin has blown past $120,000 and, predictably, the buzz is back. Advisors are getting questions. Participants are curious. And yes, some plan sponsors are starting to wonder if it’s time to add crypto to their 401(k)...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

So, How Can Participants Invest Their Retirement Money?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Under the current administration, the Department of Labor has once again changed course on its view of permissible investing strategies for retirement plans, warming to crypto and private equity, and confirming their distrust...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

DOL Walks Back Crypto Chill: A Return to Fiduciary Neutrality

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01. For those of us keeping track at home, this new guidance effectively rescinds the now infamous...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

How Do You Like Me Now… Plan Fiduciary Considerations Following New DOL Crypto Guidance

The Department of Labor recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 rescinding Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 that directed 401(k) plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before adding...more

Polsinelli

DOL Rescinds 2022 Guidance Concerning Cryptocurrency Investments in 401(k) Plans

Polsinelli on

On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) rescinded its 2022 guidance that cautioned retirement plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” in permitting cryptocurrency and other digital asset investments in retirement...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

401(k) Plan Investments in Digital Assets

Seward & Kissel LLP on

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 (the “Release”), reversing previous guidance that cautioned plan fiduciaries offering investments in digital assets in...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Labor Department Shifts Positions on ESG Investments and Cryptocurrencies in 401(k) Plans

As anticipated, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently changed its position with respect to certain investment choices that 401(k) plan fiduciaries sometimes consider or make available to plan participants, including...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Benefits Catch-Up - Q1 2025

With so much happening in the employee benefits world over the last few months, we bring you Benefits Catch-Up, our catch-up contribution to help you keep up with recent developments. Eversheds Sutherland’s US Employee...more

Lathrop GPM

The “Deregulatory Initiative” Executive Order: Impact on Employee Benefit Plans

Lathrop GPM on

A February 19 Executive Order, titled “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulatory Initiative,” is aimed at directing the “Administration to focus the...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Timing is everything

Remember when there was the beanie baby craze and people would open stores that only sold beanie babies? Same when everyone but my parents opened up a video rental store before Blockbuster killed them all. Timing is...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You can’t afford to live on the edge

One of the reasons I’ve stayed out of trouble in the retirement plan space is that I haven’t strayed too close to the sun. I’ve avoided trouble by not pushing the boundaries of the rules and regulations promulgated by the...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

DOL Expresses Extreme Concern Over Prudence of Cryptocurrency Investments in 401(k) Plans

On March 10, 2022, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) published Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (Release) addressing “cryptocurrency” investment in 401(k) retirement plans. In its Release, the DOL expressed...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

I’ll say it, don’t allow crypto in your 401(k) plan

In the movie Casino, Robert DeNiro as Sam Rothstein wanted to take on the Nevada Gaming Board after they denied his request for his license. Andy Stone, a Teamster controlled by the Mafia and played by Alan King told him it...more

Verrill

Department of Labor Guidance and Federal Initiatives Counsel a Wait-and-See Approach for 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Interested in...

Verrill on

On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor published Compliance Assistance Release 2022-01, 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies”. The Release strongly discourages the addition of cryptocurrency (and other digital...more

Lathrop GPM

Cryptocurrency as a 401(K) Plan Investment Option

Lathrop GPM on

Fidelity Investments recently announced it is making a Bitcoin account available as an investment option for 401(k) plans, fueling a debate about cryptocurrencies and fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA. In what might...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

DOL Warns Sponsors against Permitting Cryptocurrency-Related Investments on 401(k) Plan Investment Menus

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) last month issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 - 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies” (the “Release”) in which it strongly cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to use...more

Kaufman & Canoles

ESOPs & Employee Benefits Update – Q1 2022 Client Update

Kaufman & Canoles on

Happy Spring from the K&C ESOPs & Employee Benefits practice group. We’ve compiled a short list of employee benefits updates from the first quarter of 2022....more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Fiduciaries versus FOMO: Department of Labor Releases 401(k) Cryptocurrency Guidance

Regulators may be nervous about workers staking their retirements on crypto. The United States Department Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (the “DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01...more

Snell & Wilmer

To the Moon After All? DOL Targets Cryptocurrency in Retirement Plans

Snell & Wilmer on

In Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) signaled its intention to scrutinize inclusion of cryptocurrency assets and crypto-derivative products as investments in...more

Fisher Phillips

Federal Employee Benefits Investigators Announce Plan to Scrutinize 401(k) Cryptocurrency Investments

Fisher Phillips on

While some employees and retirees have been asking to have cryptocurrencies included in their 401(k) retirement plans, federal authorities recently issued a strong and direct warning that such a plan might run afoul of...more

Cozen O'Connor

Department of Labor Issues Strong Caution on Use of Cryptocurrencies in 401(k) Plans

Cozen O'Connor on

The U.S. Department of Labor (the DOL) has issued a compliance release that provides strong caution against ERISA fiduciaries of 401(k) and 403(b) plans including cryptocurrencies as plan investment options. In an unusual...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Is Crypto Too Cryptic for Your 401(k) Plan?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

It started sometime last year and, in hindsight, was inevitable. Clients with 401(k) plans and a crypto-savvy employee population began asking whether they could offer cryptocurrency as a plan investment option. In the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Department of Labor Cautions ERISA Fiduciaries on Offering Cryptocurrency Investments

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a stark warning to ERISA fiduciaries about offering cryptocurrencies and related products as potential investment options for plan participants. In Compliance Assistance Release No....more

Littler

DOL Issues Guidance on Use of Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans

Littler on

On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor issued guidance on the use of cryptocurrency in plans governed by ERISA.  The announcement applies to cryptocurrencies as well as digital assets, which include “tokens,” “coins,”...more

Fisher Phillips

Top 10 Workplace Law Predictions for 2022

Fisher Phillips on

Workplace law has changed dramatically over the past two years of the pandemic. Unfortunately, 2022 (or is it “2020 too”?) is shaping up to be another year full of new rules and regulations within this volatile area of law....more

28 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide