A proposed amendment to the Federal Reserve Act, tucked into the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ draft of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (HR 6644), would prevent the U.S. central bank from creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) through Dec. 31, 2030. The provision appears in the roughly 300-page bill and is framed as Section 10 of the draft legislation.
That section would forbid the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal Reserve Bank from issuing or creating a CBDC—or any digital asset substantially similar to a CBDC—either directly or indirectly via financial institutions or other intermediaries. The text includes an explicit carve-out for certain stablecoins, stating the Fed ‘‘shall not prohibit any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private,’’ and it aims to preserve the privacy protections currently associated with physical cash.
The prohibition is temporary: it contains a sunset clause that would expire at the end of 2030, meaning Congress would need to pass new legislation to extend the ban past that date. The White House has issued a statement supporting the Act and opposing a CBDC, citing potential risks to personal privacy and individual liberty.
The Senate moved the bill forward on a procedural cloture vote of 84–6, limiting debate and clearing the way for full consideration on the floor. The amendment echoes language from earlier congressional efforts to block a U.S. CBDC. A standalone No CBDC Act (S. 464), introduced by Senator Mike Lee in February 2025, failed to advance. Another measure, the Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919) introduced by Representative Tom Emmer in June 2025, passed the House on July 17 but has not yet cleared the Senate.
Internationally, the rollout of CBDCs remains limited. According to the Atlantic Council’s tracker, three countries have fully deployed a CBDC—Nigeria, Jamaica, and The Bahamas. 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 Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel highlighted potential CBDC benefits for the European Union, where pilot work is underway.
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