- The U.S. senate CBDC ban provision is included in a Senate housing package.
- It would block the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC until Dec. 31, 2030.
- The text also includes an exception for certain private dollar-denominated currencies.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development has inserted a U.S. senate CBDC ban provision into a bipartisan housing package, adding language that would temporarily block the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. The measure is part of a broader effort packaged in a 303-page bill that is aimed at boosting housing in the U.S., and it includes a sunset date of Dec. 31, 2030 along with an exception related to certain private, dollar-denominated currencies.
CBDC language inserted into housing package
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development included a provision that would temporarily bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, according to the text included in the committee’s bipartisan housing bill. The provision appears within the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” which was introduced Monday by Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, who are described as the top Republican and Democrat on the committee, respectively.
While the bill’s stated purpose is tied to housing, the U.S. senate CBDC ban provision is a distinct segment of the legislation, occupying two pages of the 303-page package. The section’s operative language says, “Except as provided in subsection (c), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or a Federal reserve bank 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.” The language is framed as a prohibition on issuing or creating a CBDC, and it also extends to assets described as “substantially similar” to a CBDC, whether created directly or indirectly through intermediaries.
Bill sponsors emphasize housing goals, not the CBDC ban
In public statements tied to the bill’s introduction, Scott and Warren focused on housing, describing a package designed to make it easier to build houses in the U.S. Scott said the legislation is aimed at “cutting regulatory red tape, lowering costs, and expanding housing supply while generating no new spending.” He added that the bill is also intended to support economic opportunity and homeownership, referencing “the single mom who raised me in North Charleston, South Carolina,” and framing the objective as providing “even greater access to economic opportunity and the American dream of homeownership.”
Warren, in a separate statement, said the package “includes the vast majority of the Senate’s unanimously supported ROAD to Housing Act,” adds “bipartisan housing ideas from the House,” and takes “a good first step to rein in corporate landlords that are squeezing families out of homeownership.” Neither lawmaker mentioned the U.S. senate CBDC ban provision in their statements, even though it is included in the bill text. The CBDC section’s inclusion is noted as a small portion of the overall package, suggesting that it is not central to the bill’s public messaging around housing supply, costs, and related policy changes.
Sunset date and exception for private dollar-denominated currencies
The U.S. senate CBDC ban provision is not described as indefinite. The text includes a sunset provision set for Dec. 31, 2030, placing a time limit on the restriction as written. In addition, the provision includes a carve-out tied to permissionless, private “dollar-denominated” currencies under specific conditions.
The exception is described as applying to private currencies that “fully preserve the privacy protections” of physical currency. The bill text, as presented, connects this carve-out to the concept of privacy protections, distinguishing the carve-out from the prohibited activity involving the Federal Reserve and a CBDC or similar digital asset. The structure highlighted in the source material pairs a broad prohibition on Federal Reserve issuance with a time-based sunset and a defined exception related to private, permissionless, dollar-denominated instruments meeting the stated privacy requirement.
Prior legislative history and White House support statement
The CBDC ban language has appeared in prior legislative efforts. Lawmakers have included the ban in previous bills, and the House of Representatives passed it as a standalone bill last year. However, the ban has “so far not made it all the way through Congress,” indicating that earlier efforts did not complete the full legislative process.
In this instance, the White House published a “Statement of Administration Policy” supporting the housing bill and explicitly supporting the U.S. senate CBDC ban provision. The statement is described as two paragraphs long and includes language emphasizing opposition to CBDC development. The quoted portion says: “The Administration highlights the inclusion of presidential priorities … to halt the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency that could be [sic] pose significant threats to personal privacy and liberty.” The White House statement therefore aligns itself with the CBDC-related language in the housing package, framing its support around concerns described as threats to “personal privacy and liberty.”
Separately, the provided source content also includes a brief note that “CFTC chief Selig to clear path for U.S. perpetual futures in coming weeks,” stating that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman, appearing beside his Securities and Exchange Commission counterpart, said several crypto policies are coming. No additional details are provided in the source content about those policies or how they connect to the U.S. senate CBDC ban provision.
Conclusion
The U.S. senate CBDC ban provision is embedded in the Senate Banking Committee’s bipartisan “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” a 303-page housing-focused package introduced Monday by Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren. The CBDC section would temporarily bar the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency or a substantially similar digital asset, includes a sunset date of Dec. 31, 2030, and provides an exception for permissionless, private dollar-denominated currencies that fully preserve the privacy protections of physical currency. The White House has issued a Statement of Administration Policy supporting the bill and explicitly backing the CBDC provision, while the bill’s sponsors emphasized housing goals in their public statements without referencing the CBDC ban.
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