The U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act late Monday in an 85-5 vote, attaching a four-year ban on a Federal Reserve central bank digital currency (CBDC) to the sweeping housing package. The bill now moves to the House, where lawmakers could vote within days.
A Four-Year Prohibition“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,” according to the bill.
Those efforts, however, stalled as standalone measures, but by attaching the ban to a popular housing bill, supporters found a vehicle with enough bipartisan momentum to clear the 60-vote threshold and then some, with the final tally reaching 85-5.
Should the bill pass intact, the United States would join a small group of jurisdictions to legally prohibit a central bank digital currency, even as dozens of other countries continue to pilot their own.
