'Best Reason to Exist': Dogecoin Creator Defends Bitcoin’s Role as 401(k) Alternative

Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus, who goes by Shibetoshi Nakamoto on X, has weighed in on Bitcoin's potential role as an alternative to traditional retirement savings, describing Bitcoin as having the "best reason to exist."

A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan in the United States that typically allows workers to invest through a selection of financial products, often including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

The discussion began on X as market participants reacted to the ongoing market crash, which has seen millions of dollars in liquidations in the last 24 hours. Leveraged traders took the brunt, with $1.92 billion of liquidations over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Longs accounted for the majority of the damage at $1.59 billion, while short liquidations totaled $341.26 million.

Bitcoin fell to a three-month low below $63,000; Dogecoin fell to a low of $0.055, last seen in June 2023. At the time of writing, Dogecoin was down 4.63% over the last 24 hours to $0.059.

An X user commented, apparently in light of the market drop, "Cash out or crash out."

Dogecoin cofounder Billy Markus responded, saying, "I just sell immediately and hold very little since the market is just a delusion indicator and that’s too random to track."

Another X user joined the discussion, saying Bitcoin remains "a good 401k replacement imo but depends on risk profile obviously." Markus replied to this, saying, "Bitcoin has the best reason to exist as the OG."

Crypto retirement plans growing

As cryptocurrency adoption increases, more traditionally-minded investors have begun exploring digital assets as part of their retirement plans.

Asset manager Fidelity allows Bitcoin in 401(k) plans, depending on employer approval. Fidelity is primarily known for its huge portfolio of retirement accounts and is among the largest 401(k) providers in the U.S. Fidelity also has a standard account option, announced in April 2022, that allows employees with 401(k) accounts to add Bitcoin, in addition to its more traditional accounts.

Fidelity Investments announced a new retirement plan in 2025 allowing U.S. adults to directly invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.