Largest US Union Federation Opposes Crypto Bill, Says It Exposes Workers’ Retirement Funds to Risk

The AFL-CIO has urged the Senate Banking Committee to oppose the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, warning that the legislation would expose workers’ retirement funds to crypto volatility while increasing systemic financial ￰1￱ an October 7 letter to Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Warren, AFL-CIO Director of Government Affairs Jody Calemine stated the bill would greenlight retirement plans like 401(k)s and pensions to hold risky crypto assets rather than insulating workers from ￰2￱ union federation represents millions of American workers whose retirement security could be affected by the ￰3￱ opposition comes as President Trump signed an executive order in August allowing American workers to add alternative assets, including cryptocurrency, to their $12.5 trillion 401(k) ￰4￱ than 90 million Americans participate in employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans, with total US retirement assets valued at $43.4 trillion as of March 31, ￰5￱ Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Subcommittee Chairman Ann Wagner urged SEC Chair Paul Atkins on September 22 to implement the directive swiftly by recognizing FINRA-certified professionals as accredited investors. @realDonaldTrump is preparing to sign an executive order that would open the doors for 401(k) retirement plans to include exposure to crypto. #Trump #Crypto ￰0￱ — ￰6￱ (@cryptonews) August 7, 2025 Union Warns Bill Creates Shadow Markets and Exposes FDIC to Risk The AFL-CIO claimed to have identified two immediate systemic risks in the legislation.

First, the proposal would expand the ability of FDIC-backed banks and bank holding companies to hold and trade crypto assets directly, rather than only on behalf of clients. This, according to them, would expose banks to a heightened risk of losses and failures, while also putting the FDIC’s taxpayer-backed Deposit Insurance Fund at greater risk. Second, the bill codifies the tokenization of securities and assets, allowing private companies to create shadow public stock outside SEC ￰7￱ warned these blockchain-based shadow stocks, notionally tied to traditional public stock but trading independently, would create new risks for both shadow stockholders and public stockholders who did not opt into unregulated ￰8￱ union expressed deep concern about the potential impact on the stability of traditional financial markets and institutions, comparing the risks to unregulated derivatives markets that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.) September 15, 2025 Last month, SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced the agency would end “ regulation by enforcement ,” giving firms preliminary notices of technical violations and up to six months to address issues before enforcement is ￰9￱ taking office in April, Atkins has dropped several high-profile cases inherited from Gary Gensler’s tenure and launched a Crypto Task ￰10￱ rejected the broad classification of cryptocurrencies as securities, showing openness to tokenized stocks and bonds that mirror existing ￰11￱ before then, CFTC Acting Chair Caroline ￰12￱ outlined on September 8 a cross-border framework allowing foreign crypto exchanges to operate under ￰13￱ frameworks, potentially widening market access for American ￰14￱ noted many American crypto firms moved operations abroad, citing a lack of clear rules, with jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East developing digital asset frameworks that drew companies away.