Overview
- The Senate, which voted 85-5 on Monday, approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with a provision that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail central bank digital currency through Dec. 31, 2030.
- The Fed currently has no active retail CBDC project, so the provision largely codifies existing policy rather than stopping a running program.
- The bill’s language bars any Fed-issued retail digital dollar or a substantially similar asset but explicitly preserves private, permissionless dollar stablecoins such as USDC and Tether.
- The measure now moves to the House, where some conservatives seek a permanent ban and may push amendments or delays before the bill could reach the president’s desk.
- If the House approves and the president signs the bill, the change would give private stablecoin issuers a multi-year runway and leave U.S. policy on central-bank digital money divergent from jurisdictions that are testing or piloting CBDCs.