Sen. Lummis still 'very comfortable' with Bitcoin in retirement plans

Published at: Dec. 13, 2022

Pro-crypto United States senator Cynthia Lummis has remained steadfast in her support for Bitcoin (BTC) as part of diversified retirement plans, despite calls from her senator peers otherwise.

As it stands, Lummis seems to be just one of the few openly crypto-friendly politicians in the United States and has notably pushed for progressive crypto regulation alongside Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Speaking with online news outlet Semafor on Dec. 12, Lummis outlined that crypto winter has not shaken her resolve in BTC and that she’d still like to see the asset included in United States 401(k) retirement plans:

“I'm very comfortable with making sure that people can include Bitcoin in their retirement funds because it's just different than other cryptocurrencies.”

What she was not sure about, however, was everything else — suggesting that the “jury's still out on other cryptocurrencies.”

“I personally believe that because there are only going to be 21 million Bitcoin that are mined, that Bitcoin will go up,” Lummis said, adding that it's “a personal belief, just based on its scarcity.”

These comments present a slightly different stance from what she initially outlined on retirement plans back in June 2021.

At the time, she had vouched for the inclusion of other certain cryptos, however, it appears that crypto winter and the recent FTX debacle may have shifted her opinions slightly.

“I’d also like to see individuals be able to use Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies of their preference that are safe, that have met the hurdles of anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act,” she said.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, senators include Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith and Richard Durbin instead have used recent market turmoil to reiterate their calls for Fidelity Investments to wind back its BTC-linked 401(k) retirement product.

In a Nov. 21 letter addressed to Fidelity’s CEO Abigail Johnson, the three senators highlighted the FTX debacle as a major reason to step away from offering BTC exposure in retirement plans.

“As with all financial products, price fluctuations are an expected feature of the market — and it is shortsighted to believe that setbacks in an industry are an indication that it won’t experience long-term growth,” said Jonah Allon, a press secretary for Adams.

Other senators have been negatively piling in on crypto of late, with Senator Jon Tester stating earlier this week that he sees “no reason why” crypto should exist at all. While senator Warren enthusiastically stated that “finally, there are more people blowing the bullshit whistle.”