Bitcoin, Trump and DB Plans
December 12, 2025
Bitcoin, Trump and DB Plans | Benefits and Pensions Monitor
A government that covets the assets of institutions is not positive for DB plans
If you are like me, you probably hope that you can get through the rest of 2025 without seeing the words “Bitcoin” or “Trump” anymore. But stick with me loyal readers as this will be worth it.
It is worthwhile to remember the roots of Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. I attended a meeting in what I think was a community center in Toronto over a decade ago where people were talking about this new currency. The “crypto” part of cryptocurrency came from cryptography and the people interested in this field were passionate about their field. And they spoke about the blockchain and what it could bring to people around the world at least as often as they spoke of this new currency using it…called Bitcoin.
At the time there were no real crypto exchanges. If you wanted to trade some Bitcoin you had to enter the blockchain directly, which was not easy. When these early crypto adopters spoke of governments, it was all about sharing this newfound wealth with them. Countries around the world who were destitute could hit the “reset” button and start fresh by using this new currency. And countries like Canada and the United States could prosper as well. All a government would have to do was buy a few Bitcoin. The currency would rise in value so much over time that it would wipe out the national debt. It was easy and everyone and every nation could win.
Flash forward to 2025 and a crypto conference in Toronto attracting over 20,000 people. Nobody was into helping people anymore. There was very little talk of the blockchain as the new crypto exchanges could handle all that technical stuff. It was all about making money which, as a card- carrying capitalist, I support.
And the enthusiasts at this conference wanted governments to be fully involved but for a totally different reason. They wanted governments and institutional investors to buy and buy big. This buying would add needed legitimacy to the field, and if governments and institutions opened their wallets and started buying Bitcoin and other newer cryptos it would benefit everyone who held any crypto by increasing demand. The expression at the conference was “to the moon” which has now just been shortened to “moon” which I assume is what you say when you meet another crypto enthusiast.
Trump is “all in” on crypto (“all in” is a poker term but is also used today by the crypto crowd). But Trump is also all in on having a hand in seemingly every organization in the US and every part of the economy. If your organization wants favourable legislation to start, or unfavourable legislation to stop, you have to give up a piece of the action. Intel did this and there will likely be more examples by the time you read this.
Whether this is good or bad is another topic, but it is very real. I will let Rand Paul, the libertarian US senator and an early crypto enthusiast have a word.
“If socialism is government owning the means of production, wouldn’t the government owning part of Intel be a step toward socialism?”
So, let’s tie this mess together and look at large DB plans. The result isn’t good.
The attention of the US administration has been on large companies (Intel, Apple) and large piles of money. Trump has spoken of having a national stockpile of crypto and has also spoken positively about staring a sovereign wealth fund.
Pension plans are not on the radar. Yes, there has been tinkering around the edges. DC plans can now offer cryptocurrencies. And the US treasury secretary, commenting on the plan to “give” children $1,000 said that this was their own pension plan…which is just wrong.
But with the world’s 300 largest funds coming in at 25 trillion $ USD, somebody someday will notice the “wealth” of US pension plans. And this will be attractive to a government that equates the wealth of the country with the wealth that the government holds.
Nobody has said anything yet. Maybe nobody will. And maybe the concessions that may be rung out will be minor, such as having to invest more domestically (I’m old enough to remember when Canadian funds had rules limiting foreign equity holdings).
Canada is not the US. Nothing is inevitable. Maybe being large will not make you a target or be seen by a growing part of the population as being evil in and of itself.
But having a government that covets the assets of institutions is not positive if you run a DB plan. And it is the trend of the moment.
And this is one trend that I hope won’t spread.
Jim Helik was a columnist for Benefits and Pensions Monitor for a quarter of a century. He teaches at Yorkville University where he sits on the Senate and is cross appointed to the Toronto Film School where he teaches financial literacy.
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