Key Facts

• The U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan housing affordability bill, in an 85-5 vote on Monday night, which includes a provision that prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for four years.
• The bill states that "the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or a 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."
• Republican politicians had opposed the idea of a CBDC, labeling it a "dangerous overreach of government surveillance," and insisted on including the ban in the housing bill, despite the Federal Reserve not currently working on a CBDC project.
• Former U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell had previously stated that if the Fed were to consider a CBDC, it would have left the operation and management of it to banks, while new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has expressed opposition to a U.S. CBDC, calling it a "bad policy choice."
• President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 that prohibited his administration from making any moves toward a CBDC, citing concerns that it would "threaten the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and the sovereignty of the United States."