SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said “the time has come” for pension plans, including 401(k)s, to include cryptocurrency, while CFTC Chairman Michael Selig predicted that digital assets will “boom” once Congress finalizes rules for US market structures.
The comments in a CNBC interview were made as Senate Agriculture Committee lawmakers began marking up a draft 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 less than an hour to advance the legislation to the full Senate, though it still has a long way to go before it can become law
“A lot of people are already exposed to crypto and other kinds of assets like it through their pension funds,” Atkins said. “I think the time has come to move forward with it,” Atkins said, “in a measured way that has guardrails to protect the retirees.”
The Department of Labor has previously said that fiduciaries should “exercise extreme caution before considering adding a cryptocurrency option to a 401(k) plan’s investment menu for plan participants.” In August 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to allow crypto investments in 401(k) retirement plans, opening the gates 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 the crypto industry is at a defining moment with regulations on authentication, and laid out an optimistic future for digital assets. He also said it is time to bring back to the US the blockchain companies that migrated elsewhere due to the lack of regulatory clarity.
“Blockchain technology has now been around for about 15 years and it’s really changing the way these markets are really developing in our area of ​​responsibility,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of these technologies and assets move offshore, and we want to bring them back.”
Selig expressed confidence in the legislation with the cooperation of the SEC and CFTC to finalize “the national road rules that will allow the asset class to flourish here in America.”
“If we can set the standard in the US, really a gold standard for crypto asset markets, we’re going to see a lot of new types of products, a lot of new types of onchain markets and financial applications, and that’s going to bring us into the future and make us the leading place to do business to offer digital assets.”
