来源：《彭博商业周刊》
原文见刊日期：2022年5月30日
Cryptocurrencies are the exact opposite of a prudent investment: They’re volatile, have little practical use beyond speculation and crime, often get lost or stolen, and lack the real-world cash flows that underpin the values of stocks and bonds.
加密货币与谨慎投资完全相反：它们波动性大，除了投机和犯罪之外几乎没有实际用途，经常丢失或被盗，缺乏那种支撑股票和债券价值的真实现金流。
It should thus go without saying that they have no place in a retirement savings plan. Unfortunately, it appears to require saying.
因此，不用说，加密货币在退休储蓄计划中没有位置。但不幸的是，这一点似乎需要明确说明。
Increasingly, financial institutions are seeking to get crypto into the employer-sponsored 401(k) plans where workers set aside pre-tax earnings for retirement. Last year, the plan provider ForUsAll announced it would allow employees to put as much as 5% of their accounts into cryptocurrencies. This year, Fidelity Investments, among the country’s largest 401(k) providers, said it would soon let participants invest as much as 20% in Bitcoin, if employers choose the option. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, an outspoken Bitcoin advocate, immediately said he’d be in.
越来越多的金融机构正寻求将加密货币纳入雇主出资的401(k)计划，401(k)让员工为退休储蓄税前收入。去年，401(k)管理商ForUsAll宣布，将允许员工将最多5%的账户余额存入加密货币。今年，美国最大的401(k)管理商之一富达投资表示，如果雇主愿意，它将很快允许参与者用账户余额的至多20%投资比特币。MicroStrategy首席执行官迈克尔·塞勒是一位直言不讳的比特币倡导者，他立即表示会加入。
Advocates offer various justifications for this misguided idea. They say Americans deserve more choice, citing surveys showing that millennials in particular tend to see crypto as a desirable investment. They say digital assets can diversify a given portfolio because their price fluctuations aren’t synced with other markets. Proper financial education, they insist, can help people understand the risks.
倡导者为这一误入歧途的想法提供了各种理由。他们表示，美国人应该有更多的选择，并援引调查显示，千禧一代尤其倾向于将加密货币视为一种可取的投资。他们说，数字资产可以使给定的投资组合多样化，因为它们的价格波动与其他市场不同步。他们坚持认为，适当的金融教育可以帮助人们了解风险。
Please, no. People have a hard enough time navigating the US retirement savings system — and merely saving enough for old age — without adding an option that even professional investors struggle to grasp. The diversification argument is specious at best: Crypto has a limited track record, and Bitcoin has lately plunged even more than other markets, down more than 50% from its November 2021 peak. Not to mention technical difficulties such as obtaining reliable pricing and ensuring safe custody in a largely unregulated realm.
请不要这样。人们在美国退休储蓄体系中度过的日子就已经够艰难的了——而且仅仅是为了养老而储蓄，何况增加一个连专业投资者都难以把握的选项。多样化的说法充其量是似是而非的：加密货币的历史记录有限，比特币最近的跌幅甚至超过了其他市场，较2021年11月的峰值下跌了50%以上。更不用说在一个基本上不受监管的领域获得可靠的定价和确保安全托管等技术困难了。
To their credit, regulators aren’t buying the idea. The Labor Department, which oversees 401(k) plans, issued guidance emphatically reminding employers of their fiduciary duty to participants and warning that including crypto among investment options will invite investigation. Companies seem perfectly willing to comply: In one recent poll, less than 2% of 401(k) plan sponsors said they were considering adding cryptocurrency as an investment option.
值得赞扬的是，监管机构并不买账。负责监管401(k)计划的劳工部发布了指导意见，强调提醒雇主对参与者负有受托责任，并警告称，将加密货币纳入投资选项招致调查。公司似乎完全愿意遵守：在最近的一次民意调查中，不到2%的401(k)计划出资雇主表示，他们正在考虑将加密货币作为一种投资选项。
Yet the industry and its supporters keep trying. Congressional Republicans, for example, have introduced legislation that would prohibit the Labor Department from restricting 401(k) investment options, opening the way for crypto and much more. If lawmakers have a modicum of responsibility, they’ll let such initiatives die quietly. If not, one must hope employers will hold the line.
然而，加密货币行业及其支持者仍在尝试。例如，国会共和党人已经提出立法，禁止劳工部限制401(k)投资选项，为加密货币等开辟了道路。如果立法者有一点点责任心，他们就会让这样的倡议悄无声息地消亡。如果不是这样，人们必须希望雇主们能坚守底线。
Of course, people should be free to invest their money as they please — outside their tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Someday, crypto may prove to be something more than a purely speculative instrument. It’s nowhere near that now.
当然，人们应该可以自由地投资他们的钱，但他们税收优惠的退休账户里的钱除外。有一天，加密货币可能会被证明不仅仅是一种纯粹的投机手段。但现在离这还远着呢。