Devere Group CEO Nigel Green said Donald Trump has just signed a landmark executive order that will reshape how millions of Americans build retirement wealth by opening the doors of the $9 trillion US retirement market to cryptocurrencies, private equity, and other alternative assets. He was joined by Block Street co-founder and CEO Hedy Wang, who called the focus on tokenized finance a “national imperative.”
This move, which will allow crypto exposure within 401(k) plans for the first time, is one of the boldest steps yet to embed digital assets at the heart of the global financial system.
“This is a defining moment not just for crypto, but for the entire future of finance,” Green said. “The world’s largest economy is saying, in effect, that digital assets now belong in the core of long-term wealth strategies. This has global implications.”
The executive order instructs US regulators to revisit and update existing frameworks that have long restricted access to private market and crypto investments in professionally managed retirement accounts.
More than 90 million US workers participate in 401(k) plans, historically focused on equities and bonds. For decades, these plans have excluded entire categories of high-growth assets, including Bitcoin and other digital currencies, despite growing investor interest.
“This is yet another breakthrough moment for crypto,” Green added. “Institutional capital from retail retirement accounts had been the final frontier. Once that capital starts flowing in, the integration of digital assets into traditional portfolios becomes irreversible.”
The US is not acting in isolation. Other major economies are expected to follow suit. In Europe, regulators are already fielding calls to modernize pension rules. In Asia, where digital assets are booming and adoption rates remain high, the pressure to match Washington’s momentum is already building.
The timing of this announcement is critical. Digital currencies have surged in 2025, with Bitcoin reaching all-time highs, driven by renewed corporate adoption, sovereign interest, and the green light from regulatory regimes.
“Retirement savings are one of the most conservative pools of capital in existence. If crypto can earn its place there, it can earn its place anywhere,” noted Green. “This order breaks the psychological and regulatory barrier that’s kept crypto in a sandbox, but now it’s mainstage.”
That main stage is vast: US 401(k) accounts represent the deepest individual investment pool in the world. Even a modest portfolio allocation to crypto could unleash hundreds of billions of dollars in new demand for digital assets.
Where that demand builds, infrastructure, innovation, and broader acceptance follow.
At the same time, this move signals an acceleration in the “political embrace of crypto.” Trump’s decision comes after years of lobbying by private market players, but it was the inclusion of digital assets, according to senior officials, that ultimately helped push the policy over the line.
For investors, this policy shift opens up opportunities, but also new responsibilities. Crypto markets remain volatile, and the risks differ from those of traditional stocks and bonds.
However, with appropriate diversification and professional oversight, Green argues, the long-term benefits are compelling.
“Investors want exposure to the future. They don’t want to miss out. This move allows them to build that exposure inside their most important financial vehicles, with guidance and safeguards.”
The impact won’t stop at US borders as capital markets are global. Pension funds, sovereign wealth managers, and asset allocators in every major economy will now have to rethink their own frameworks in light of this development.
“Crypto is no longer just an option for speculative traders or hedge funds. It’s becoming part of the financial DNA of today’s world,” Green concluded.
“President Trump’s move directing regulators to allow Americans to invest their 401(k) retirement savings in alternative assets, including crypto, private equity, and real estate, surprised both Wall Street and the crypto sector,” Wang observed. “The directive tasks the Labor Department, SEC, and Treasury with creating pathways for retirement savers to gain exposure to asset classes that, until now, were almost entirely out of reach.
“While most coverage has zeroed in on Bitcoin and Ethereum, once retirement plans are authorized to hold cryptocurrencies, the same rails could potentially be extended to tokenized equities, blockchain-based representations of real-world stocks. That means traditional equities could be bought, sold, and collateralized on-chain in a retirement account, potentially unlocking whole new classes of yield-bearing strategies for long-term savers.
“This isn’t just financial innovation, it’s a national imperative. By embracing tokenized finance at the retirement level, the U.S. has a chance to reassert itself as the global capital of financial innovation. This policy could cement America’s leadership in the next generation of markets, open, programmable, and on-chain”