Coinbase Proposes Including Eligible Digital Asset Products in US Trump Accounts

PANews reported on September 26 that Coinbase has become one of the first supporters of the Trump accounts program and is asking the Internal Revenue Service to broaden the eligible digital asset products that young Americans could hold inside the accounts.

Coinbase backs digital assets inside the proposal

Emilie Choi, Coinbase President and Chief Operating Officer, said the company is an early supporter of the Trump accounts initiative. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer, said the company has submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service on how to implement and expand the accounts.

The proposal would let beneficiaries invest in broadly traded digital assets, or gain exposure to digital assets through funds. Coinbase said that would align the qualified investment scope with the asset classes available in traditional individual retirement accounts.

The current rules focus on low-cost stock funds

The Internal Revenue Service had previously proposed that growth-stage qualified investments be mainly limited to mutual funds or ETFs that track broad indexes of US companies, are unlevered and have annual fees of no more than 0.1%.

Coinbase argued that broader and product-neutral rules would expand choice, promote competition and create more diversified investment and wealth-building opportunities for young Americans.

What the next step means

The proposal now depends on whether the Internal Revenue Service adopts broader, product-neutral rules for Trump accounts. If such a change were adopted, eligible digital asset products could enter the accounts either directly through broadly traded digital assets or indirectly through funds, while still operating within the proposed fee and leverage boundaries for growth-stage investments.