President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order on Thursday, August 7, allowing 401(k) retirement plans to include private equity, real estate, and cryptocurrencies, among other similar assets.

The order will instruct the U.S. Department of Labor to review and possibly revise the existing guidelines on the inclusion of alternative investments in retirement plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as reported by Bloomberg.

In addition, the department will also have to clarify how exactly fiduciary duties apply when asset allocation funds offer exposure to newly included holdings.

What does Trump’s new 401(k) order mean?

The move would benefit alternative asset firms the most, giving them access to a new $12 trillion retirement market and helping their investment products reach the mainstream.

Of course, the crypto market as a whole is expected to feel the effects of the new order. Bitcoin (BTC), for instance, rose from $114,900 to $115,670 within an hour of the announcement.

While the cryptocurrency is still way below the psychological threshold of $120,000, the rally has generated a lot of speculation, leading to a jump in futures open interest (+1.25% in the past hour as of the time of writing based on CoinGlass data).

However, it is not clear whether the executive order will result in immediate shifts, as government agencies will still need to develop new regulations, which could take until 2026, according to Jaret Seiberg, a financial services policy analyst at TD Cowen Washington Research Group.

Likewise, once the regulations have been outlined, workplace retirement plan sponsors will have to do extensive research and restructuring before offering new investment options.

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