SEC chair says 'time is right' for pension funds to include crypto, CFTC head says digital assets set to flourish

SEC Chair Paul Atkins said “the time is right” for retirement plans including 401(k)s to include cryptocurrency, while CFTC Chair Michael Selig predicted digital assets will “flourish” once Congress finalizes U.S. market structure rules.

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 Commodity Futures Trading Commission's role and clarify oversight boundaries with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The committee took less than an hour to advance the legislation to the full Senate, though it still has a lengthy path before it can become law

“A lot of people are already exposed to crypto and other sorts of assets like that through their pension funds,” Atkins said. “I think the time is right to go forward with that,” although, Atkins said, “in a measured way that has guardrails to protect the retirees.”

The Department of Labor previously said fiduciaries should “exercise extreme care before they consider 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 pivotal moment with regulations on the cusp of approval, and laid out an optimistic future for digital assets. He also said it is time to bring back to the U.S. the blockchain companies that migrated elsewhere due the lack of regulatory clarity.

“Blockchain technology has now been around for about 15 years and it's really transforming the way that these markets are really developing within our remit,” 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 legislation with the collaboration between the SEC and the CFTC to finalize “the national rules of the road that will allow the asset class to flourish here in America.”

“If we can set the standard in the United States, really a gold standard for crypto asset markets we are 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 the us the premier place to do business to offer digital assets.”