U.S. House Democrat, who may soon run key committee, condemns crypto in 401(k)s

U.S. House Democrat, who may soon run key committee, condemns crypto in 401(k)s

Policy

U.S. House Democrat, who may soon run key committee, condemns crypto in 401(k)s

Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on House Financial Services, asked the chief of the Department of Labor to withdraw its proposal on alternative assets.

By

Jesse Hamilton

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Edited by

Stephen Alpher

Jun 26, 2026, 7:38 p.m.

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U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, a key Democrat, opposes the Labor Department's proposal for crypto in retirement accounts. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

Summary

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As the U.S. Department of Labor seeks to implement a plan from President Donald Trump to expand 401(k) retirement accounts to alternative investments, including crypto, a key member of the House of Representatives is asking the department to think again.

Maxine Waters, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and possible future chair, submitted an 11-page comment later requesting withdrawal of the proposal.

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters may soon return to the helm of the House Financial Services Committee if Democrats perform as expected in the November elections, and she's asking that the Department of Labor

back away from a proposal

that would encourage the managers of 401(k) retirement plans to offer alternative investments, including cryptocurrency.

In March, the Labor Department

proposed a rule

to implement what President Donald Trump had ordered: that people's 401(k) accounts be open to investments in private equity, private credit, real estate, commodities and digital assets. Waters filed a detailed,

11-page comment letter

with the department this week, requesting that the idea be withdrawn.

"It is incoherent for the department to bless digital assets as suitable for the retirement savings of everyday Americans while the [Securities and Exchange Commission] is still building the investor-protection regime intended to make those same assets safe for ordinary investors," Waters argued in the letter. "The hazard is not confined to the volatility of individual tokens, severe as that is. It reflects a broader deterioration across the digital‑asset ecosystem, where trading activity, developer engagement, and user participation have collapsed."

Waters, who previously wielded the committee gavel when Democrats last held power, may return to chair the panel if her party wins the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after the November congressional midterms. Kalshi betting currently has that

likelihood at 82%

. While that committee doesn't directly oversee the Labor Department's 401(k) policies, it does oversee the SEC, which regulates investments.

In her letter addressed to the department's acting secretary, Keith Sonderling, she said that the proposal — which hasn't yet been finalized — would expose investors to a digital assets market that "operates outside any federal framework and has produced staggering investor losses."

In August of last year, Trump

issued an executive order

calling for his administration to give people with government-structured retirement accounts the "opportunity to participate, either directly or through their retirement plans, in the potential growth and diversification opportunities associated with alternative asset investments."

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