Back to Markets
Crypto● Neutral
Trump Delays CBDC Ban, Ties Housing Bill to Voter ID Law
Trump canceled signing of housing bill that would ban Fed CBDC through 2030, delaying statutory codification of his own policy as he presses for voter ID legislation.
Continue with
President Donald Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony for a housing bill that would have banned a Federal Reserve-issued digital dollar through 2030. The move put him in the unusual position of blocking a measure that would codify his own policy.
Trump has spent his second term opposing a U.S. central bank digital currency. His January 2025 executive order barred federal agencies from taking steps to establish, issue, or promote one. He has described a CBDC as a threat to financial privacy.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act cleared the Senate 85-5 on Monday and the House 358-32 on Tuesday. Those margins exceeded the two-thirds threshold needed to override a presidential veto. The bill's final section includes a provision preventing the Fed from issuing a CBDC until Dec. 31, 2030.
Trump said he would withhold his signature until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, an elections bill requiring voter identification and documentary proof of citizenship. The House passed that bill 218-213 in February. It has stalled in the Senate, where Republican leaders lack the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
"Look, I made billions of dollars with housing. I know housing better than anybody maybe anywhere," Trump told reporters when asked whether he would veto the package. "It's all about the interest rate. I don't want to hurt people that own houses too."
The president's decision frustrated lawmakers from both parties who had promoted the housing package as one of the most substantial federal housing efforts in decades. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who helped negotiate the legislation, said "we will get this bill passed."
The CBDC restriction is written around central bank-issued money. It would prevent the Fed from issuing or creating a CBDC, directly or through a financial intermediary, until the end of 2030. The central bank also could not issue a substantially similar digital asset without authorization from Congress.
The prohibition would not ban private stablecoins such as Tether's USDT or Circle's USDC. It would not affect open, permissionless dollar-denominated digital assets that preserve protections similar to those associated with physical currency.