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The bill protects Americans' current bank-account access and financial privacy by banning retail Fed-distributed CBDCs, but in doing so it forgoes potential payment speed, fintech innovation, and easier international CBDC coordination.
Middle-class families and taxpayers retain their existing bank accounts and cash because the bill bars the Fed from distributing a retail CBDC directly to individuals or intermediaries, preserving current banking access and payment choice.
Middle-class families and taxpayers keep greater financial privacy and face lower risk of direct government account surveillance or control because the bill limits government-run digital accounts.
Financial institutions face fewer operational and balance-sheet changes because the bill prevents Fed use of its balance sheet to distribute a government-issued digital currency.
Middle-class families and small-business owners may miss out on faster, cheaper payment settlement options because the bill blocks a potential Fed tool (a retail CBDC) that could speed payments.
Tech workers, fintech firms, and financial institutions could face reduced opportunities for digital-payments innovation and competition because the Fed is forbidden from participating in CBDC infrastructure.
Taxpayers and financial institutions may face harder international policy coordination and weaker cross-border CBDC interoperability because the bill legally forecloses Fed roles in future digital-asset policy.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bans the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and any agencies or agents acting for them from creating, issuing, offering, or operating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for use by individuals. It also bars Federal Reserve Banks from holding U.S.-issued digital currencies on their balance sheets or using such digital currencies to meet regulatory requirements. The measure prevents CBDCs from being distributed either directly to people or through custodial intermediaries, and it stops federal entities from maintaining accounts on behalf of individuals for CBDC purposes. It does not appropriate funds or create new programs; it is a statutory prohibition on specified CBDC activities by federal monetary authorities and their agents.
Introduced February 18, 2025 by Andy Ogles · Last progress February 18, 2025