An amendment to the Federal Reserve Act would bar the U.S. central bank from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until 2030. The language appears near the end of the 300-page “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” (HR 6644) released by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Section 10 of the draft legislation says the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any 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 measure includes an exception for stablecoins, stating the Fed “shall not prohibit any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private,” and it preserves the privacy protections associated with physical cash.
The prohibition contains a sunset clause that would expire on December 31, 2030, meaning new legislation would be required to extend the ban beyond that date. The White House issued a statement backing the Act and opposing a CBDC, citing potential threats to personal privacy and liberty.
The Senate advanced the bill on a procedural cloture vote, 84–6, limiting debate and clearing the way for full floor consideration.
This language revives provisions from earlier attempts to block a U.S. CBDC. The standalone “No CBDC Act” (S. 464), introduced by Senator Mike Lee in February 2025 to prohibit the Fed or Treasury from issuing a CBDC, stalled in Congress. Additional legislation, the “Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act” (H.R. 1919) introduced by Rep. Tom Emmer in June 2025, passed the House on July 17 but has not cleared the full Senate.
Globally, only three countries have fully deployed a CBDC—Nigeria, Jamaica, and The Bahamas—according to the Atlantic Council’s tracker. Forty-nine countries are actively testing CBDCs, including China, Russia, India, and Brazil; 20 have CBDCs in development and 36 are conducting research. In February, Germany’s central bank president Joachim Nagel highlighted CBDC benefits for the European Union, which is running a pilot.
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