Congressional leaders have tied a temporary ban on a Fed-issued retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) to a broader housing package, advancing a measure that would bar the Federal Reserve from creating a CBDC until the end of 2030.
What’s moving
- On June 16, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott, Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, House Financial Services Chair French Hill, and Ranking Member Maxine Waters released updated text for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The bill combines housing affordability measures with a time-limited CBDC prohibition and is now on a clearer path through Congress, though it still needs final passage.
- The housing provisions aim to cut red tape, unlock supply, lower costs, protect taxpayers, preserve local control, and curb large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to rent.
The CBDC ban — the essentials
- The bill would amend the Federal Reserve Act to prohibit the Fed from “issuing or creating” a CBDC, or any digital asset substantially similar to one, whether directly or through banks or other intermediaries.
- It defines a CBDC as a dollar-denominated digital asset that is U.S. currency, a direct liability of the Federal Reserve System, and widely available to the public.
- The ban would expire on Dec. 31, 2030, unless Congress takes further action.
How this fits into wider policy fights
- The language builds on President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order that barred federal agencies from actions to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs except where required by law, citing risks to individual privacy and U.S. sovereignty.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has publicly stated the Biden administration would not advance a CBDC under the current White House; some Republicans had pushed for a permanent ban and opposed the 2030 sunset.
- The bill includes a carveout for dollar-denominated digital currency that is open, permissionless, and private — effectively preserving room for private stablecoins to operate outside the CBDC restriction.
- Separately, Congress is working on broader crypto legislation, such as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, which would divide crypto oversight between the CFTC and SEC and contains its own anti-CBDC language.
- Earlier House efforts, like Rep. Tom Emmer’s Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, cleared the House but struggled in the Senate; folding CBDC language into a must-pass housing package may overcome that hurdle.
What’s next
- The housing deal could clear floor time to pass before the August recess — some reports say votes could happen as soon as next week.
- If approved in its current form, the U.S. would impose a time-limited bar on a Fed-issued retail digital dollar, while leaving Congress free to extend the ban, make it permanent, or let it lapse before the 2030 sunset.
Takeaway
The compromise links housing policy and digital currency politics, pausing any Fed retail CBDC for now while preserving a path for private stablecoins and leaving the door open for future congressional decisions on digital dollar policy.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
