🚨 The largest teachers' union in the United States lashes out at the cryptocurrency bill: Don't shove digital assets into our retirement funds
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — one of the largest teachers' unions in the country representing 1.8 million educators —
formally submitted a petition to the Senate requesting the withdrawal of the "Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill."
CNBC was the first to disclose this heavyweight document.
📌 AFT's key point: This bill will expose pensions to huge risks
AFT President Randi Weingarten wrote in the letter:
➡️ The bill does not provide the necessary regulatory protections
➡️ Instead, it will expose working-class families, who have nothing to do with cryptocurrency, to financial risks
➡️ It could even undermine the stability of their retirement security
In a nutshell:
"Don't gamble our pensions on cryptocurrency."
🏛️ The two main concerns of the union
1️⃣ Pensions may passively engage with digital assets
The bill could pave the way for digital assets to enter:
• Pensions
• 401(k)
• Other retirement portfolios
AFT believes this is extremely irresponsible for groups with limited risk tolerance.
2️⃣ Non-crypto companies can exploit "equity tokenization" to evade securities regulation
Weingarten pointed out a key loophole:
➡️ Companies can tokenize equity → put it on the chain → bypass the registration, disclosure, and regulation of traditional securities laws
This will lead to:
• Investor protection being weakened
• Regulatory accountability failing
• Traditional assets may also be contaminated into "unsafe assets"
She warned:
"Even if pensions invest in traditional securities, they may ultimately be forced to hold risky assets."
⚠️ AFT's bigger concern: It may lay the groundwork for the next financial crisis
The letter also pointed out that the bill lacks sufficient regulation of crypto-related illegal activities,
and the loopholes could lead to greater systemic risks.
📝 A summary in one sentence
AFT is not against crypto, but opposes letting pensions bear crypto risks,
especially in a context where regulation is not yet complete and tokenization may bypass securities laws.