Crypto investors rejoiced late Thursday morning on news President Donald Trump was set to sign an executive order to make it easier to include alternative assets in employees’ retirement accounts. Bitcoin jumped 2% over the past 24 hours to push past $116,000, and Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, soared 7% to hit about $3,800, according to data from Binance.
The total value of all cryptocurrencies rose almost 2% to $3.9 trillion, per CoinGecko. The rise mirrored the broader surge in the stock market as the S&P 500 notched a slight gain after markets opened before dropping later in the morning.
“This is yet another channel of sustained, long-term demand for Bitcoin that will bid the price higher,” Ryan Rasmussen, head of research at the crypto asset management firm Bitwise, told Fortune.
The rise in the crypto and equities markets follows multiple reports that Trump will sign an executive order Thursday midday that will task the Labor Department to reevaluate guidance for fund managers about whether alternative assets can be included in 401(k)s. These assets can include private equity as well as potential crypto products, including Bitcoin ETFs.
The guidance is tied to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, which instructs the Labor Department to set investment standards for retirement and health plans.
Trump’s new executive order will also instruct the Labor Department to work with other regulators, including the Treasury as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, to align rules across multiple agencies regarding alternative assets’ inclusion into retirement plans.
Beyond the initial price jump, crypto market analysts believe the order, which essentially reinstates a former policy Trump issued in his first term that President Joe Biden rolled back, will lead to further gains in Bitcoin and other digital assets.
The 401(k) market totaled $8.7 trillion in assets in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Investment Company Institute. “This move effectively opens access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for retirement investors,” said James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, another crypto asset manager.
Jake Ostrovskis, an OTC trader at the crypto market maker Wintermute, agreed. “Unlike retail investors, who chase momentum or institutional traders seeking alpha, 401(k) participants typically maintain target allocations through systematic rebalancing—creating sustained, predictable demand flows,” he said.
Bitcoin’s Thursday price jump follows a week of lows in August after the cryptocurrency notched repeated all-time highs in July, mirroring a corresponding rally in the stock market.
