Many Americans view including cryptocurrencies in workplace retirement plans as risky, a survey showed.

Cointelegraph reported on Tuesday, citing a National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) survey, that 77 percent of respondents rated cryptocurrency investment through workplace retirement plans as risky.

Greenwald Research conducted the survey from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14, 2025, among 1,203 Americans aged 25 and older. The results were weighted by age, gender and income. Some 46 percent said cryptocurrency investment was "very risky". Another 53 percent said they opposed employers offering cryptocurrencies as a retirement-plan investment option. As debate continues over expanding what retirement plans can invest in, participants remain cautious.

Concerns about retirement security in the United States underpinned those views. Some 80 percent of respondents said the United States was facing a retirement crisis, up from 67 percent in 2020. Another 61 percent said they worried about achieving financial stability after retirement.

Cost-of-living pressures and debt are also squeezing the ability to save. Some 68 percent said preparing for retirement was becoming increasingly difficult, and 77 percent said debt prevented them from saving enough. With greater sensitivity to the stability of retirement assets, wariness of volatile cryptocurrencies has grown.

Separate from public sentiment, the U.S. administration and regulators have moved to widen access to alternative assets in retirement accounts. In May 2025, they withdrew guidance that urged 401(k) managers to exercise extreme caution when considering cryptocurrency investment. They returned to a neutral stance that neither encourages nor excludes crypto inclusion.

U.S. President Donald Trump (도널드 트럼프) signed an executive order on Aug. 7, 2025 to expand access to alternative assets in defined-contribution retirement plans. It included investment vehicles holding digital assets. It also directed the Labor Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to review regulatory changes to support wider access.

The Labor Department later withdrew its 2021 guidance. That guidance had strongly discouraged 401(k) fiduciaries from considering alternative assets. The department said investment decisions should be made under a "neutral and principles-based approach".

In March 2026, the Labor Department proposed a draft rule on how 401(k) fiduciaries could include alternative assets in their investment lineups. The proposal included safe-harbor standards to reduce litigation risk, along with requirements to consider factors such as fees, liquidity, valuation and performance.

The deregulatory trend has also met political pushback. Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Bobby Scott urged the Labor Department in June to withdraw the draft rule. They cited cryptocurrency volatility and a lack of investor protection safeguards.

That has increased the likelihood of continued conflict in the U.S. retirement-plan market over expanding investment choice and protecting retirement assets. Public opinion leans toward caution on adding cryptocurrencies, while the institutional system is moving to widen channels for alternative assets. That has made the rule-finalisation process and industry responses key variables.