ForUsAll, which describes itself as a “modern small business 401(k) provider,” has expanded its platform offerings to include access to a digital asset index.
According to a press release, participants on that platform will soon be able to invest part of their 401(k) directly into the constituents of the CoinDesk Market Select Index (CMIS) — the first index-based digital asset offering available on a 401(k) platform in the United States, according to the firm.
With this latest development, ForUsAll says 401(k) savers will now be able to invest in the CMIS’ 28 underlying constituents.
The firm notes that, in order to bring this to market, ForUsAll partnered with CoinDesk Indices (CDI), a provider of digital asset indices and creator of the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS). The firm says the index is unique in that it is derived through a taxonomy that assigns eligible digital assets by their use cases to defined industries, industry groups and sectors. “Leveraging the DACS, and applying a methodology with select eligibility criteria, the CMIS measures the market capitalization weighted performance of the constituents, currently encompassing 89% of the overall digital asset landscape that include assets from each of the Select Sectors,” according to the press release.
ForUsAll staked out its place in the 401(k) crypto space in mid-2021 when it announced that it would be the first financial services company to offer plan sponsors the option to adopt cryptocurrency as an investment for participants through its brokerage window. Then in April 2022, Fidelity announced its intention to allow 401(k) participants whose plan sponsors adopt it as an investment option to invest up to 20% of their account balances in Bitcoin.
Of course, prior to Fidelity’s announcement, the DOL (March 2022) released a Compliance Assistance Release in which it expressed “serious concerns” about plan fiduciaries’ decisions to allow DC plan participants to invest in cryptocurrencies. The release also indicated that DOL planned to conduct an investigative program aimed at plans that offer such investments and that plan fiduciaries could expect to be questioned by DOL about their decisions.
Following that, ForUsAll filed suit against the Labor Department for that “arbitrary and capricious attempt to restrict the use of cryptocurrency in defined contribution retirement plans…”
