The lawmakers argued the new rules would presume due diligence—or prudence—on the part of fiduciaries, instead of requiring it, in violation of longstanding requirements established by the Supreme Court and the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
“The change to the prudence standard described above expands opportunities for President Trump and his family to profit at the expense of taxpayers, workers and retirees,” the letter reads.
A representative for the Labor Department did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
Though Sanders and Warren expressed concerns this week about weakening retirement-related fiduciary standards generally, they also underscored the particular volatility of crypto investments—and questioned the motives of Trump and other crypto entrepreneurs who have celebrated the policy shift.
“The DOL’s efforts to weaken safeguards that deter retirement saving funds from being invested into volatile and largely unregulated digital assets would jeopardize Americans’ hard earned income and benefit the digital asset industry at the cost of Americans’ retirement savings,” the lawmakers wrote.
