An initiative to ban the US Federal Reserve from issuing a government-run digital dollar passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 89-10 vote in the Senate, but is included within a housing bill that may run into headwinds in the US House of Representatives.
The effort to ban a central bank digital currency (CBDC) has long been a favorite of Republican lawmakers, although the US government has never advanced beyond the research stage to establish a government token that could compete with privately issued stablecoins (and rival other CBDCs pursued by China and other jurisdictions). The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act included an unrelated section banning US CBDCs until at least the end of 2030.
The section, in the final pages of the 302-page bill introduced by the Senate, states that the Federal Reserve “may not issue or create a central bank digital currency or any digital asset that is substantially similar to a central bank digital currency directly or indirectly through a financial institution or other intermediary.”
“Financial privacy is a cornerstone of American freedom, and any decision to authorize a central bank digital currency must rest in the hands of Congress and the American people,” Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said in a statement. “We appreciate that the Senate has reinforced the fact that digital innovation in the United States must be led by the private sector while protecting individual liberty.”
But House lawmakers have signaled they could force a second effort on the Senate version, which could disrupt the bill’s progress. A particular issue is the fact that the Senate bill forces large investors in American housing, such as private equity firms, to sharply limit the number of homes they can own.
President Donald Trump himself has favored that concept, one of the few areas of overlap with Democratic lawmakers.
Although Trump has supported the effort to make housing more available in the United States, he recently declared that he will not sign any bills until Congress sends him legislation that would require voters to present identification and proof of citizenship before casting their ballots in this year’s important midterm congressional elections. The path for that initiative is unclear, adding to uncertainty for supporters of the housing bill and other efforts, including the crypto market structure bill known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
