A bipartisan bill in the US Senate includes a ban on the issuance of CBDCs by 2030, and has received a statement of support from the White House.
The U.S. Senate on Monday pushed through a large housing bill package with rare bipartisan consensus, including a provision banning the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) until 2030. This represents one of the strongest displays of bipartisan consensus in Congress this term, marking the first time crypto asset policy has been directly integrated into a major housing bill rather than being handled through a separate law.
The language regarding CBDCs in the bill is clearly binding, stating that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors or any Federal Reserve Bank may not issue or create central bank digital currencies, either directly or through an intermediary. This provision is believed to have been included at the request of a group of conservative House lawmakers who had pressured to ensure a CBDC ban in previous crypto policy compromises.
Unusual political signals from the White House
The White House quickly issued a statement supporting the bill, asserting that advisers would recommend the president sign it into law if the Senate amendment were presented in its current form. This is an unusual move, especially for Democrats, who generally oppose efforts to prohibit the Fed from researching or developing a digital dollar before sufficient assessment is possible.
Previously, Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly emphasized that all activities related to CBDCs are currently only exploratory research and that the central bank will not deploy a digital dollar without explicit authorization from Congress. However, incorporating this provision into substantive law would create a formal legal binding obligation, going beyond administrative commitments.
Beyond the CBDC debate, the bill focuses on measures to increase housing supply, restrict individual home ownership by investment firms, and simplify development financing programs. However, this unusual combination has drawn renewed attention from the financial and technology sectors, where debates about privacy, state oversight, and the Vai of public payment systems in the digital economy remain unresolved.
The bill still needs to be agreed upon with the House version before being presented to the President for signing, and the fate of the provision banning CBDCs remains uncertain in the final round of negotiations.
