Sponsors
The bill blocks the Federal Reserve from issuing or holding retail digital currency—protecting bank intermediation and privacy but narrowing tools for faster payments, financial inclusion, emergency liquidity, and potentially shifting costs and concentration to private providers.
Middle-class families and taxpayers will not be required to hold direct Federal Reserve retail accounts; commercial banks and custodial intermediaries remain the primary providers of retail banking services, preserving existing privacy boundaries and customer relationships.
Taxpayers and financial institutions are protected from the Fed placing U.S.-issued digital currency directly on its balance sheet, reducing potential novel risks to monetary operations and central-bank balance-sheet complexity.
Low-income individuals and other unbanked or underbanked Americans lose a potential policy tool (a retail CBDC) that could enable faster, cheaper payments and greater financial inclusion.
Taxpayers and households may lose a mechanism the Federal Reserve could use for rapid emergency liquidity provision or direct fiscal transfers, reducing flexibility in crisis response.
Technology workers and financial firms may see slower public-sector-led innovation in digital payment infrastructure because the Fed is barred from participating in certain digital-currency services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars the Federal Reserve, Treasury, and related agencies from issuing, holding, or offering a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) to individuals or intermediaries.
Introduced February 18, 2025 by Andy Ogles · Last progress February 18, 2025
Prohibits the Federal Reserve, the Board of Governors, the Treasury, and any entity acting on their behalf from issuing or minting a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) to individuals or digital-currency intermediaries, from offering CBDC-related products or services directly to individuals, and from maintaining accounts for individuals. It also bars Federal Reserve banks from holding U.S. Government–minted or -issued digital currencies on their balance sheets or using them to meet reserve or regulatory requirements. The change is a targeted statutory restriction that narrows federal agencies’ authority to create, distribute, or book CBDC-related assets or accounts for private persons or intermediaries. It does not create new spending, nor does it directly regulate private digital currencies issued by non-government actors.