President Donald Trump said Thursday he will not sign a bipartisan housing bill that includes a multi-year ban on the issuance of a U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC.
Unless the president actively vetoes the legislation before midnight tonight, however, it will automatically become law.
Reached by Decrypt, a White House spokesperson declined to say whether Trump intends to veto the legislation before then, directing the inquiry to the president's Truth Social post.
If Trump does issue a formal veto before midnight tonight, the bill would return to Congress. There, lawmakers would need to pass the bill again with a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. The legislation previously cleared both chambers with veto-proof margins, passing the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is primarily aimed at boosting U.S. housing construction by cutting regulations. It also limits institutional investors' ability to buy up residential housing. Earlier this year, lawmakers also added a provision to the bill prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency through the end of 2030.
The CBDC language was welcomed by crypto and privacy advocates, who have argued a government-issued digital dollar could enable federal surveillance of Americans' financial transactions. While the Federal Reserve has continued researching the technology, it has repeatedly said it would not issue a CBDC without authorization from Congress.
