If approved, retirees can allocate 20% of their savings portfolio to bitcoin without having to open a crypto exchange account.
US-based retirement plan provider Fidelity Investments will reportedly allow 401(k) retirement savings account holders to invest directly in bitcoin (BTC).
The new Bitcoin retirement investment plan will be launched later this year. This will allow more than 23,000 Fidelity-affiliated companies to manage their retirement accounts to offer bitcoin investment options to customers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If the offer to deposit BTC in their savings accounts is approved by employers, retirees will be able to allocate up to 20% of their portfolio to bitcoin. Fidelity is currently in talks with several employers using its services, and MicroStrategy has reportedly already approved BTC investment plans.
The argument for retirement accounts for investing in bitcoin is not new. In early June 2021, another retirement plan provider, ForUsAll, partnered with Coinbase to offer access to BTC to their retirement account holders. However, Fidelity’s interest in this sector will definitely make this idea popular.
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Dave Gray, head of pension offerings and platforms at Fidelity Investments, noted that the decision to offer bitcoin to 401(k) plan holders was based on strong customer demand. He said:
“We have begun to hear growing interest from plan sponsors in how Bitcoin or digital assets could be offered in a retirement plan. We expect cryptocurrencies to shape how future generations think about investing in both the short and long term.”
Gray also noted that in addition to its initial support for bitcoin, the company will add other crypto assets to the investment option depending on consumer demand.
With over $4 trillion in assets under management, Fidelity was one of the first major financial institutions to embrace cryptocurrencies with the launch of its Digital Assets division in 2018. Since then, the investment firm has been one of the biggest supporters of Bitcoin.
