US Senate housing bill includes provisions banning central bank digital currencies.

PANews reported on March 3 that, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has included a provision in its newly introduced bipartisan housing bill to temporarily ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). This bill, the "21st Century Road to Housing Act," co-introduced by Committee Chairman Tim Scott and senior member Elizabeth Warren, aims to promote housing construction in the United States by reducing regulatory hurdles.

In this 303-page bill, a two-page CBDC ban stipulates that the Federal Reserve Board or Federal Reserve Banks may not issue or create CBDCs or any digital assets substantially similar to them, directly or through intermediaries such as financial institutions. The ban is valid until December 31, 2030, and includes exceptions for permissionless, private "dollar-denominated" currencies that fully retain the privacy of physical currency. The White House statement supporting the bill explicitly mentions its support for this CBDC clause, stating that it "prevents the development of CBDCs that could pose a significant threat to individual privacy and freedom." Congress has previously attempted to pass similar bans multiple times; the House passed it as a separate bill last year, but it has yet to receive full approval from Congress.