ForUsAll sued in 2022 saying the Department of Labor issued unlawful guidance that pushed customers away from its crypto offerings

A federal judge rejected an investment adviser’s case against the U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday, leaving intact the agency’s caution that crypto currency may not be an advisable investment option for retirement accounts.

ForUsAll sued in 2022 saying the Department of Labor issued unlawful guidance that pushed customers away from its crypto offerings. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., said he could not alter that.

Even if the guidance were revoked, Cooper stated, it would not change the Labor Department’s perspective of the risks of crypto currency or plan to probe crypto currency offerings.

The San Francisco-based firm claimed the agency, which administers retirement plan rules, had unlawfully omitted the rulemaking process when it told retirement plans to use “extreme care” when considering including crypto to their offerings.

The judge dismissed that claim, saying the guidance was not a final action that could be questioned under the law.

The agency issued the guidance in March last year, after President Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring the government to evaluate the risks and advantages of crypto currency.

The Labor Department said digital assets may not be the type of investment that prudent plan administrators would offer, and stated it would question those who do.

ForUsAll said in its lawsuit that the agency acted arbitrarily in singling out crypto currencies to be addressed with “extreme care,” a position that Cooper refused on Tuesday.

It is difficult to comprehend how the supposed ‘extreme care’ standard diverges from the ordinary duty of prudence that is ‘the highest known to the law,’ the judge added.