Senator Cynthia Lummis backs crypto for US retirement plans

U.S. Senator and Bitcoin proponent, Cynthia Lummis, would like to see U.S. residents turn to Bitcoin as part of a diversified strategy for their retirement plans.

Speaking during the CNBC Financial Advisor Summit on June 29, Senator Lummis stated she would like to see Bitcoin and other crypto-assets become a normal part of diversified asset allocations used for retirement funds in order to protect the from inflation.

“I’d also like 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 Bank Secrecy Act,” she added.

Lummis emphasized the importance of maintaining a “diverse asset allocation” — warning of the inflation risks caused by government spending and money printing:

“The Congress spends trillions and trillions of dollars, and is flooding our economy and the world economy with U.S. dollars, there’s no way that we cannot debase the value of the U.S. dollar.”

While U.S. citizens have been able to include crypto assets in their retirement portfolios since the Internal Revenue Service first issued guidance on the sector in 2014, the practice of hodling digital assets in one’s retirement plan has remained a niche practice.

Related: Retire early with crypto? Playing with FIRE (Cointelegraph Magazine)

However, despite the first crypto-friendly retirement plans beginning to emerge in 2020, many analysts are skeptical of the trend.

On June 22, senior vice president at Alliant Retirement Consulting, Aaron Pottichen, told CNBC that “plan sponsors, in general, are still very unlikely to want to adopt any type of cryptocurrency into their investment line-up.”

During the interview, Lummis revealed that she currently owns 5 BTC in total, having bought her first Bitcoin in 2013 for roughly $330. Despite her Bitcoin bullishness, she emphasized that diversification is the key and not to go all-in on BTC:

“I don’t want everybody putting all their money in Bitcoin just like I don’t want everybody putting it in dollars and putting it under a mattress.”