According to CoinMeta, a proposal from the U.S. Department of Labor that allows 401(k) retirement plans to allocate alternative assets such as cryptocurrencies was submitted on Thursday to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review. The proposal aims to simplify the process of including alternative investments in retirement plans and provide legal protection for employers and plan administrators. The proposal, announced by the Department of Labor in March, did not specify the types of digital assets that could be included nor set a minimum market value threshold. However, it requires plan administrators to assess investment risks from six aspects: performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, benchmarks, and complexity. Experts suggest that Bitcoin and Ethereum may be adopted first due to their more mature markets and investment products, but altcoins are not automatically excluded and still need to meet requirements for prudent investment, liquidity, valuation, and investor protection. It is noted that some small-cap tokens may have difficulty meeting the requirements for historical performance and benchmark assessments. The proposal does not require that crypto investments be conducted through certain platforms or managed funds, but experts expect that such investment products may enter 401(k) retirement plans before direct holdings of cryptocurrencies.