SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said “the time is right” for retirement plans, including 401(k)s, to include cryptocurrencies, while CFTC Chairman Michael Selig predicted that digital assets will “flourish” once Congress finalizes US market structure rules.
The comments in a CNBC interview were made as lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee began drafting a crypto market structure bill, legislation that could expand the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and clarify oversight boundaries with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It took the committee less than an hour to advance the legislation to the Senate floor, although there is still a long way to go before it can become law.
“Many people are already exposed to cryptocurrencies and other similar asset types through their pension funds,” Atkins said. “I think it’s the right time to move forward with that,” though, Atkins said, “in a measured way that has guardrails to protect retirees.”
The Department of Labor previously said that fiduciaries should “exercise extreme caution before considering adding a cryptocurrency option to the investment menu of a 401(k) plan for plan participants.” In August 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to allow cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) retirement plans, opening the doors for a $10 trillion market to flow into the asset class. The White House said at the time that alternative assets, including digital assets, offer competitive returns and diversification benefits.
Selig, for his part, said that the crypto industry is at a crucial moment with regulations about to be approved and presented an optimistic future for digital assets. He also said it’s time to bring back to the US blockchain companies that migrated elsewhere due to a lack of regulatory clarity.
“Blockchain technology has been around for about 15 years and is really transforming the way these markets are developing within our realm,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of these technologies and assets move overseas and we want to bring them back.”
Selig expressed confidence in the legislation with the SEC and CFTC collaborating to finalize “the national rules that will allow the asset class to flourish here in the United States.”
“If we can set the standard in the United States, really a gold standard for cryptoasset markets, we will see many new types of products, many new types of on-chain markets and financial applications and that will take us into the future and make us the premier place to do business and offer digital assets.”
