Senator Lummis remains “very comfortable” with Bitcoin in retirement plans
Pro-crypto US Senator Cynthia Lummis has remained steadfast in her support for Bitcoin (BTC) as part of diversified retirement plans, despite calls from her fellow senators otherwise.
As it stands, Lummis appears to be just one of the few openly crypto-friendly politicians in the US and has notably pushed for progressive crypto regulation alongside Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Lummis spoke to the online news agency Semafor on December 12 that the crypto winter has not shaken her determination in BTC and that she still wants to see the asset included in US 401(k) retirement plans:
“I’m very comfortable making sure people can include Bitcoin in their retirement funds because it’s just different than other cryptocurrencies.”
What she wasn’t sure about, however, was everything else – suggesting that “the jury is still out on other cryptocurrencies.”
“I personally believe that because there are only going to be 21 million Bitcoins that will be mined, Bitcoin will go up,” Lummis said, adding that it is “a personal belief, just based on its scarcity.”
These comments present a slightly different stance than what she originally outlined on retirement plans back in June 2021.
At the time, she had vouched for the inclusion of other certain cryptos, but it seems that the crypto winter and the recent FTX debacle may have changed her opinions a bit.
“I also want 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 the Bank Secrecy Act,” she said.
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Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, senators including Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith and Richard Durbin have instead used recent market turmoil to reiterate their calls for Fidelity Investments to discontinue its BTC-linked 401(k) retirement product.
In a November 21 letter addressed to Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson, the three senators highlighted the FTX debacle as a key reason to move away from offering BTC exposure in pension plans.
“As with all financial products, price volatility is an expected feature of the market – and it is short-sighted to believe that setbacks in an industry are an indication that it will not experience long-term growth,” said Jonah Allon, press secretary for Adams.
Other senators have recently weighed in on crypto, with Senator Jon Tester stating earlier this week that he sees “no reason why” crypto should even exist. While Senator Warren enthusiastically stated that “finally more people are blowing the bullshit whistle”.
