Three US politicians have complained and expressed concerns about bitcoin as a pension. Their words are addressed to Abigail Johnson, the CEO of Fidelity Investments. Fidelity recently started offering bitcoin in their pension funds. “This decision creates problems,” said the politicians.
Bitcoin pension is bridge too far
The letter of complaint (PDF) is from Dick Durbin, Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith, and was sent on Tuesday. The letter, which is about a page and a half long, describes Americans’ retirement savings habits without substantiating it with convincing statistics.
However, you can read many rhetorical delights and adjectives. For example, the money that US consumers can invest in pension funds is hard earned, and their exposure to the cryptocurrency casino is a bridge too far.
Response to bitcoin pension
And this gem, which could be from 2017:
“While the underlying technology of blockchain is promising and has the potential to be used for innovative and exciting applications, consumers should be wary of the risks associated with bitcoin and other digital assets”
The three authors of the letter asked, “If saving for retirement is already a challenge for so many Americans, why would Fidelity allow those who can save to be exposed to an untested, highly volatile asset like bitcoin?”
The three did not ask whether they wanted to stop doing this, but ended the letter with the request for a response.
Bitcoin in 401k retirement plan
The pension system in the United States works differently than in the Netherlands. On the other side of the ocean, they call a retirement plan a 401k plan. The difference with the Netherlands is that as an employee here you are bound to a sector-related pension provider, while Americans can choose themselves with whom they store their 401k.
With a 401k anyone who works can save an x amount of gross income, they pay no income tax on this amount and this makes it extremely popular.
To persuade employees to work for their company, most employers contribute to the 401k plan. This is allowed up to a maximum of 5% of the annual salary. The 401k is not managed by a pension fund, but by an asset manager such as Fidelity.
Normally, investments are made in stocks, bonds and index funds, but Fidelity adds bitcoin to this list. Fidelity manages the 401k retirement savings of more than 20 million Americans and can generate a huge DCA with their bitcoin retirement.
Earlier criticism of bitcoin pension
This isn’t the first time Warren and Smith have criticized Fidelity, openly questioning in late April how Fidelity handles “significant risks such as fraud, theft and loss.” According to the politicians, this is inherent to bitcoin.
“Investing in cryptocurrencies is a risky and speculative gamble, and we are concerned that Fidelity would take these risks with the retirement savings of millions of Americans.”
You can say a lot about these politicians, but at least they are consistent.
