Most Americans do not want cryptocurrency near their retirement money, a new National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) survey shows. The poll finds 77% call crypto in retirement plans risky, and 46% say it is very risky.
Eighty percent now say the US faces a retirement crisis, up from 67% in 2020. Meanwhile, 61% fear they will not be financially secure after they stop working.
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Retirement Anxiety Keeps Climbing
Greenwald Research ran the survey of 1,203 US adults for the Washington-based nonprofit late last year. The results read like a warning.
Inflation worries 73% of savers. Market swings trouble 62%. And 76% fear Social Security cuts if Congress fails to act.
The savings numbers explain the fear. Nearly half of Americans have less than $100,000 put away. Another 18% have nothing at all.
Even $100,000 buys less than most people think. Only 9% knew it produces roughly $4,000 in first-year retirement income under a standard withdrawal rule.
“Americans are telling us that retirement security is becoming harder to achieve as they struggle with the affordability of everyday life. Housing, healthcare, debt and other expenses are competing with the need to save for retirement,” Dan Doonan, NIRS executive director, said in the report.
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Crypto in Retirement Plans Meets a Trust Deficit
Washington has spent the past year pulling in the opposite direction. In 2022, the Labor Department told employers to use “extreme care” before adding crypto to 401(k)s. It scrapped that guidance in May 2025.
President Trumps August 2025 order then went further. It directed the department to open 401(k)s to alternative assets, including crypto funds. Days later, regulators rescinded a 2021 statement discouraging those assets.
A new proposed rule followed in March. Critics had warned about fiduciary risks within weeks of the original order.
Savers are not following. Beyond the 77% risk reading, 53% oppose employers offering crypto at all. And 84% say Washington leaders do not understand their retirement struggles.
Americans have mixed views on cryptocurrency in retirement plans; the majority view it as risky. Source: NIRS
Their trust flows the other way, toward the oldest product on the shelf. Some 76% view traditional pensions favorably.
Bitcoin (BTC), the largest crypto asset, trades near $78,092 at press time. That leaves employers stuck between two forces. Regulators now allow crypto in retirement menus, yet three in four workers call it risky.
Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto
Whether adoption grows may depend on which side blinks first.