US Senate housing bill includes provisions banning central bank digital currencies.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has added a provision to its newly introduced bipartisan housing bill temporarily banning the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). This bill, the "21st Century to Housing Act," co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Tim Scott and senior member Elizabeth Warren, aims to promote housing construction in the United States by reducing regulatory hurdles. In this 303-page bill, the CBDC ban, occupying only two pages, stipulates that the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Reserve Banks may not issue or create CBDCs or any digital assets substantially similar to them, directly or through intermediaries such as financial institutions. The ban is valid until December 31, 2030, and includes exceptions for permissionless, private "dollar-denominated" currencies that fully retain the privacy protections of physical currencies. The White House statement supporting the bill explicitly mentions its support for this CBDC provision, stating that it "prevents the development of CBDCs that could pose a significant threat to individual privacy and freedom." Congress has previously attempted to pass similar bans multiple times; the House passed it as a separate bill last year, but it has yet to receive full approval from Congress.