U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville plans to introduce Financial Freedom Act
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville revealed plans to introduce legislation that would allow Americans to invest their retirement funds in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The senator also added that the proposed bill will expand investment options for retirement savings.
Tuberville released a similar Financial Freedom Act in 2022 in retaliation to the U.S. Department of Labor’s regulatory guidance that attempted to bar 401(k) accounts from investing in crypto. The DOL’s guidance threatened to investigate plans that allow participants to select investments in virtual assets, including plans with brokerage windows.
Senator Tommy Tuberville plans to introduce Financial Freedom Act
The U.S. Senator from Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, announced on April 1 that he will introduce the Financial Freedoms Act on April 2. Tuberville said the legislation will allow families and individuals to invest their retirement funds into crypto.
Tuberville also rattled the Biden administration for bombarding the American people with regulations on digital assets. The U.S. official acknowledged that he wants to help Trump in his agenda to become the crypto president.
The lawmaker highlighted that the bill will be something good for everybody and urged people to diversify and do what they want to do since it was a free country. He also condemned the Biden administration because they “didn’t want anything to do with crypto.”
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He stated that Biden’s government overreached by dictating what assets were viewed worthy of retirement investment, which took the decision away from individual investors by issuing regulatory guidance targeting cryptocurrency. The lawmakers also argued that the government had no business standing in the way of retirement savers who wanted to make their own investment choices.
Tuberville seeks to limit government from Americans’ retirement plans
Tuberville had also introduced the Financial Freedom Act of 2022 in the U.S. parliament on May 5, 2022, which was to act as a barrier to the Department of Labour’s (DOL) attempts to restrict BTC and other digital assets as an investment avenue under the 401(k) retirement plans. He also ensured that the legislation had guidelines to guarantee that financial institutions and employers don’t face any legal troubles if they offered crypto as an investment option under the 401(k) retirement plan.
The DOL on March 10, 2022 released regulatory guidance in an attempt to bar 401(k) accounts from investing in virtual assets. The government’s guidance emanated from the Employee Benefits Security Administration, which is an agency charged by Congress with regulating the $6.2 trillion 401(k) investment industry covering around 91M American workers at the time.
The press release highlighted that the government undermined the ability of 401(k) plans to offer brokerage windows, which give retirement plan participants the ability to personally control how their assets get invested.
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The Department of Labour issued a warning in March 2022 for financial service firms that exposed their 401(k) participants to virtual currencies. The government cited volatility, uncertain valuations, and a still-evolving regulatory environment as the key concerns behind the warning. The DOL’s guidance also threatened employers and investment firms, stating that individuals using brokerage windows to invest in crypto could be subject to a DOL investigation and enforcement actions.
Tuberville highlighted that the Financial Freedom Act of 2022 would empower retirement savers and ensure no punishment for employers who allow investors to exercise financial freedom.
The U.S. representative of Florida, Byron Donalds, had also introduced a House of Representatives version of the Financial Freedom Act in 2022. He stated that the bill aims to prohibit the DOL from restricting the types of investments 401(k) account holders can choose.
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