Lathrop GPM Partner Allie Itami was recently featured by Cointelegraph in a piece discussing state pension plans and private pension plans.
According to Allie, State pension plans have an easier time allocating a portion of their assets to cryptocurrencies than private pension plans, which must adhere to fiduciary regulations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Allie further explained, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), which enforces the ERISA regulations, cited the nascent and volatile nature of cryptocurrencies as the primary reason for cautioning against private pension plans investing in digital assets.
“Regulators called the Department of Labor and specifically the agency that enforces ERISA — the EBSA — and in 2022, they came out with some compliance assistance guidance that was very skeptical about cryptocurrency in ERISA-covered plans. So, that has put a damper on ERISA-covered pension plans adding cryptocurrency.”
Read the full article here: State pension plans can adopt crypto more easily than private plans