Fed's CBDC dreams put on ice until 2030 🧊

A bipartisan deal between the US House and Senate will move a housing bill forward that prohibits the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency until Dec. 31, 2030. The updated 21st Century Road to Housing Act, released Tuesday by leaders from both chambers, also bars institutional investors from purchasing existing single-family homes to rent out. The CBDC prohibition has been part of the bill since the Senate passed its version in March, and the House cleared its own measure in May before the two chambers reconciled their differences. The Senate's latest amendments now head back to the House for a final vote, with House Republican leaders planning to bring the package up after the chamber returns from recess on June 23, according to two people familiar with the plan who spoke to Politico.

The digital asset language states that the Federal Reserve may not, directly or indirectly, "issue or create a central bank digital currency or any digital asset that is substantially similar to a central bank digital currency." The provision also carves out dollar-denominated stablecoins described as "open, permissionless, and private," and largely mirrors the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act introduced by Republican Representative Tom Emmer in June 2025. That standalone bill passed the House the following July but stalled in the Senate.

The housing measure clears legislative space for Congress to advance the crypto-regulating CLARITY Act before the August recess and the November midterm elections, a priority for many lawmakers. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 barring federal agencies from all work related to CBDCs, citing risks to "the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and the sovereignty of the United States." Earlier standalone CBDC ban bills had stalled, making the housing package's inclusion of the language a vehicle for a long-sought Republican policy win.