Trump will sign executive order tomorrow letting $9 trillion in 401(k)s flow into crypto

Donald Trump is getting ready to tear open the gates of America’s retirement savings system. The former president plans to sign an executive order that will let workers pour their 401(k) funds, currently holding over $9 trillion, into crypto, gold, and private equity, according to the Financial Times.

This order could land as early as tomorrow and would change where Americans park their retirement money forever.

Right now, 401(k) plans mostly stick to the safe, boring stuff (hint, hint: stocks and bonds). But under Trump’s new order, that list is about to get a lot weirder and way more aggressive. The assets in question aren’t just Bitcoin or Ethereum.

We’re talking private loans, infrastructure deals, corporate takeover funds, and precious metals too. And to pull it off, the order tells U.S. regulators to figure out what legal roadblocks still stand in the way, so fund managers can start adding these options for retirement savers.

Trump expands crypto reach

“President Trump is committed to restoring prosperity for everyday Americans and safeguarding their economic future. No decisions should be deemed official, however, unless they come from President Trump himself,” the White House told the Financial Times.

Right now, most Americans can only invest their 401(k) contributions into traditional mutual funds tied to public stocks and bonds. But Trump wants to add crypto to the mix… fast. This move builds on his earlier steps: his administration has already backed off from several regulatory crackdowns on crypto exchanges, giving the industry breathing room.

Just last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed three bills focused on digital assets. All of them have the full weight of Trump’s support behind them. These bills aim to reduce restrictions on crypto, and they’re part of a wider effort to get blockchain-based finance deep into the heart of the U.S. economy.

The reason behind this push isn’t subtle. Trump publicly credits the crypto industry for boosting his chances in the 2024 election. His campaign painted crypto regulations from the Biden era as overkill, and he promised to reverse course. Now, this executive order would make good on that promise.

Back in May, the Department of Labor, under Trump’s direction, revoked a rule left over from the Biden administration. That rule warned retirement plan managers to stay away from crypto. With that gone, there’s nothing holding plan providers back from even considering it.

Private equity giants gear up to enter the 401(k) market

This order would also crack the door wide open for private market players like Blackstone, Apollo, and BlackRock. All three are ready to jump into this pool, and they’ve already started lining up the partnerships they need.

If this order becomes official, it will tell the Department of Labor to give plan administrators a legal cushion, a safe harbour, so they won’t get hammered by lawsuits just for offering alternative investments that cost more or aren’t traded on public markets.

That’s a big deal. These private assets come with high fees, weird pricing, and very little transparency. But they also carry huge upside, and asset managers want a piece. According to private equity insiders, this one move could push hundreds of billions of dollars into their funds.

Blackstone, for instance, is working with Vanguard to distribute its products through retirement accounts. Apollo and Partners Group are doing the same with Empower, which runs one of the country’s largest 401(k) plans. Meanwhile, BlackRock is already working with Great Gray Trust, a third-party retirement plan manager, to bring private funds into savers’ portfolios.

For private equity, this order is arriving right on time. Big institutional investors like pensions and endowments haven’t been pouring in new capital like they used to. But 401(k) savers? That’s a whole new source of funding, and there’s a lot of it.

Still, none of this comes without risk. These private investments aren’t traded daily. They’re harder to exit, more expensive, and rely heavily on leverage. And there’s not much visibility on what exactly is inside these funds. For regular savers, it’s a totally different ballgame from just buying some index fund.

But none of that’s stopping Trump. He wants crypto in your 401k, private equity in your plan statement, and gold in your portfolio. And as usual, he’s going to do what he wants.