US retirement accounts 401K open to Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency is gradually entering the mainstream financial market, but it is still not seen in the US pension plan 401k. 401k provides pensions for employees across the United States and helps them invest in stocks, bonds, and funds. 401k provider ForUsAll announced on Monday that they will allow employees to add cryptocurrencies to their investment portfolios for the first time. This includes Bitcoin and more than 50 tokens popular on DeFi such as Uniswap and Algorand. Coinbase will provide guarantees and management for employees' crypto assets.

Jeff Schulte, CEO of ForUsAll, told Decrypt that his company provides 401k plans for nearly 70,000 employees and hundreds of companies of different sizes. If this crypto investment plan is popular, other 401k providers in the United States, such as Fidelity, Schwab and start-up companies, will follow suit and join the market. ForUsAll's product also reflects how professional crypto products will enter a wider market. The ForUsAl website allows participants to switch freely between stock market, real estate, and newly launched cryptocurrency product pages.

However, employees can only invest up to 5% of their retirement funds. Schulte told Decrypt that this is not a regulatory requirement, but rather a response to ForUsAll's investment advice to allocate most of the funds to the stock market and only a small portion to other investments. When employees invest more than 5% due to market conditions, they will receive a notification and be advised to rebalance their investment ratio, but it is not mandatory. As for the price, employees who choose to purchase crypto products pay a 0.5% fee at the time of purchase and an annual fee of less than 1%.

Overall, the launch of this 401k crypto product reflects recent investment trends, with investors of all classes seeking high returns through alternative investments. These include cryptocurrencies, art and private companies, which were once only available to very wealthy investors but are now becoming more and more accessible to the public thanks to technology-driven financial platforms.

This move by ForUsAll and Coinbase suggests that the crypto market has more room to grow. If other 401k providers with trillions of dollars in assets also launch similar products, the crypto market will see a significant influx of funds and push up prices.