If you have not heard Fidelity Investments announced today that it will offer 401(k) investors access to Bitcoin as an investment choice in their retirement accounts.
This is big news because Fidelity is a legacy investment brand so this step to adopt cryptocurrencies goes a long way towards adoption. Fidelity says it is the first major retirement plan sponsor to announce such an offer and is starting by offering its customers Bitcoin.
If you have talked to a finical advisor over the past few years you'll have seen varying reactions among many advisors. Most have warn off clients from crypto investments under saying they are "too volatile or " Doesn't have an intrinsic value." and for the real haters they just call it a "Ponzi scheme"!
At this point they have to face the reality and see that blockchain technology isn't going away anytime soon and it's changing the way people move valve, game and interact. I don't agree with bitcoin as core investment because there are much better projects, but it's still king so I'm not surprised this will be the first offering.
This news is exciting but for anyone with a Fidelity 401k Bitcoin will not show up immediately on your plan's investment menu. Fidelity is still building out its digital asset platform won't be available until later this year. Also employers will have to approve crypto investments inside the plans they provide to their workforce. What this mean is many will likely take a wait-and-see attitude before making a move to offer crypto as part of their retirement plans.
Bitcoin has not been the best performing asset this year so I can see why some of the skepticism is touted. However, long term crypto will change the world and should be integrated into everyone's portfolio. However risks should be mitigated and time horizons considered. Remember not all investments are right for every so make sure to do your own research.
