The 85-5 Senate vote bans the Fed from issuing a digital dollar through 2030. The House could vote Tuesday. The provision removes a competitive threat to private stablecoins.
Alpha Score of 59 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, poor value, strong quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals – score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
The U.S. Senate voted 85-5 on Monday to ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency through the end of 2030. The prohibition was attached to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a broad housing affordability package that now heads to the House for a vote as soon as Tuesday.
The CBDC language bars the Fed from creating a digital dollar "directly or indirectly through a financial institution or other intermediary." That wording is the key. Critics had warned the central bank could sidestep a narrower ban by issuing a digital dollar through commercial banks or payment firms. The provision expires at the end of 2030 unless Congress renews it.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh called a CBDC a "bad policy choice" during his nomination hearing. President Trump has gone further, warning in an executive order that a digital dollar could threaten financial stability, individual privacy, and U.S. sovereignty.
The vote caps a multi-year push that started at the state level. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster recently signed an anti-CBDC law protecting self-custody rights. North Carolina's legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to reject a federal digital currency in late 2024.
Those efforts stalled as standalone measures. By attaching the ban to a popular housing bill, supporters found a vehicle with enough bipartisan momentum to clear the 60-vote threshold. The final tally reached 85-5.
The provision builds on executive action. Trump signed an order earlier this year barring federal agencies from developing or promoting a CBDC, reversing earlier government work on a digital dollar. The new bill converts that executive directive into statute, making it harder for a future administration to revive the project before 2030.
Attention now shifts to the House. Leaders were weighing an accelerated process to pass the bill as soon as Tuesday. If the House approves the package without changes, it heads to Trump's desk. His signature would make the CBDC ban law.
The crypto industry has watched the bill closely. A federal ban on a government-issued digital dollar removes a competitive threat to private stablecoins and clears the field for dollar-pegged tokens issued by the private sector. For bitcoin advocates, the measure codifies a distinction between decentralized money and a state-controlled digital currency.
Should the bill pass intact, the United States would join a small group of jurisdictions to legally prohibit a central bank digital currency, even as dozens of other countries continue to pilot their own.
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