President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that paves the way for 401(k) retirement plans to invest in private equity, real estate, cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets, significantly broadening the menu of options available to U.S. savers. The order directs Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to review fiduciary guidance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and to consult with the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators on parallel rule changes. It also instructs the SEC to revise regulations to facilitate access to alternative investments in participant-directed defined-contribution plans. Opening 401(k)s to non-traditional assets could unlock a pool of roughly $12.5 trillion held in defined-contribution accounts covering more than 90 million workers, creating a new funding source for asset managers outside the public-markets sphere. Industry giants including Blackstone, KKR, Apollo and BlackRock, which have lobbied for broader access to retirement money, stand to benefit from the policy shift. Bitcoin climbed above $116,000 and crypto-linked equities rallied after the White House confirmed the order’s signing. Critics, including some lawmakers and investor advocates, warn that higher fees, illiquidity and litigation risks make alternative assets potentially unsuitable for many retail savers, signalling that regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges could follow.