Sponsors (8)
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Rafael Edward Cruz · Last progress March 25, 2025
The bill prioritizes privacy, existing bank relationships, and congressional control by blocking a Fed retail CBDC, but in doing so it forecloses a public option that could speed payments, lower costs, and add direct crisis‑response tools—shifting reliance to private providers and Congress to decide any future change.
Millions of bank customers and financial institutions keep existing deposit and payments relationships (banks/nonbank providers continue to hold retail accounts and offer customer-facing products), avoiding disruption to how most Americans access banking.
Individuals retain stronger privacy protections because the Fed is barred from issuing a retail CBDC, reducing the risk of new government-linked surveillance of consumer payment data.
Financial institutions avoid immediate implementation and ongoing compliance costs associated with operating Fed-run retail digital accounts, preserving regulatory certainty for banks and fintechs in the near term.
Consumers and businesses could lose potential benefits of a retail CBDC—faster settlement, lower transaction costs, and more efficient payments—if the public option is never developed.
Policymakers would have fewer direct tools (like instant, targeted transfers) to deliver emergency liquidity or enact certain monetary‑stability measures that a retail CBDC could enable.
By blocking Fed issuance until Congress acts, Americans may face delays in payments modernization; tangible improvements tied to a CBDC could be postponed for years.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits the Federal Reserve System from creating, issuing, testing, studying, or using a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or any substantially similar digital asset, and stops Reserve Banks from offering accounts or services directly to individuals or issuing CBDCs either directly or indirectly through intermediaries. Declares Congress's view that the Board of Governors lacks authority to issue a CBDC unless Congress grants that authority.