US housing bill blocks Fed CBDC through 2030

Senate and House committee leaders agreed June 16 on a bicameral housing bill that includes a provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency until at least Dec. 31, 2030.

The restriction was added after the Senate passed its version in March and the House in May. Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott negotiated with ranking member Elizabeth Warren and coordinated with House Financial Services members before sealing the deal. The ban covers direct issuance by the Fed and indirect issuance through financial intermediaries.

The housing side of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act restricts large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, changes brokered deposit rules, and eases de novo bank formation. The crypto markets are watching the CBDC language.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 instructing federal agencies to stop work on government-controlled digital money. The White House called CBDCs a threat to "the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and the sovereignty of the United States" and directed the U.S. to focus on dollar-backed stablecoins.

Representative Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who pushed for the ban, described CBDCs as a "weaponized surveillance tool" that stand against privacy, freedom, and free market competition. Some privacy advocates in Congress have pushed for a permanent ban.

The provision removes the U.S. government as a competitor to Circle (USDC) and Tether (USDT) at least through the end of the decade. The Senate expects to hold procedural votes this week. A House vote is planned after June 23.

Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank is moving the opposite direction. The ECB is building a digital euro, arguing it protects Europe's monetary independence. If legislation passes in 2026, a pilot could start in 2027 with full issuance in 2029. The ECB has signed agreements to test accessibility features like voice commands and large text for users with disabilities.

ECB officials worried that the dominance of dollar-backed stablecoins – combined market capitalisation of roughly $317 billion versus less than $1 billion for euro-denominated stablecoins – gives the U.S. disproportionate influence over global payments. A digital euro would also let European payment firms compete with Visa and Mastercard through open standards.

On the stock side, Mastercard (MA) and Global Payments (GPN) sit on opposite sides of AlphaScala's scoreboard. MA scores 64 out of 100, labeled Moderate with a sector tag of Financials. GPN scores 32, graded Weak and classified under Industrials. Those scores reflect how the two companies sit relative to different parts of the payments stack. The CBDC ban, in the short term, removes a government-owned competitor from the stablecoin space, which supports incumbents like Circle and Tether. It does little to change Visa and Mastercard's competitive position – the digital euro would have been the bigger near-term threat for them, and that is still years away.

The practical read-through for traders is narrower than the headline suggests. The ban locks in the status quo for dollar-backed stablecoins through 2030, removing one regulatory tail risk for USDC and USDT. It does not change the competitive dynamics between card networks and blockchain-based payment rails. The European digital euro timeline – pilot in 2027, issuance in 2029 – means the real cross-border payment disruption is still several years out. For now, the bill's housing provisions are more likely to move the stocks of homebuilders and mortgage lenders than anything in crypto or payments.