U.S. House Approves Housing Package With CBDC Ban Through 2030

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a broad housing package that includes a temporary ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), handing a major win to lawmakers seeking to curb the Federal Reserve's role in tokenized money. The legislation now heads to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it. The House approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act 358–32 on Tuesday, following a similarly lopsided Senate vote a day earlier, according to the official House roll call. While the bill is chiefly aimed at housing affordability, the crypto and financial-services industry has focused on two sections: the CBDC restriction and a carveout for certain stablecoins. Key provisions • CBDC restriction: The bill would block the Federal Reserve from "directly or indirectly" issuing or creating a CBDC—or any digital asset "substantially similar" to a CBDC—until Dec. 31, 2030. • Stablecoin carveout: The measure allows certain dollar-denominated stablecoins described as open, permissionless, and private. • Political compromise: Congressional leaders reached agreement after earlier disputes, suggesting the CBDC language remained negotiable but ultimately stayed in the final text. How the CBDC ban could bite The time-limited prohibition is designed to constrain Fed experimentation or deployment of a tokenized form of central bank money for the rest of the decade. Even without an actual CBDC launch, the "substantially similar" wording could drive compliance work as banks and other regulated firms assess whether related digital-asset initiatives might be viewed as CBDC-like. Why the stablecoin exception matters By carving out certain privately issued, dollar-linked tokens, lawmakers appear to be drawing a line between stablecoins and a Fed-issued digital dollar. For compliance teams, the distinction signals the bill targets the central bank rather than imposing a blanket stablecoin ban. Still, terms such as "open," "permissionless," and "private" could invite interpretation questions around access controls, governance, and transaction privacy—areas that can collide with auditability and AML expectations. Legislative path and precedent The measure moved quickly after late-stage leadership negotiations, with the CBDC language carried through from earlier drafts, Cointelegraph reported. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott backed the outcome, casting it as a win for families while highlighting the CBDC restriction as a long-sought policy objective. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly pushed similar language in standalone bills. A prominent example was Rep. Tom Emmer's Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, introduced in June 2025 and passed by the House in July, but it stalled in the Senate. Embedding the restriction in a high-priority housing package suggests lawmakers may increasingly use "vehicle" legislation to advance digital-asset policy when dedicated bills falter. Regulatory and compliance implications Although the prohibition applies to the Federal Reserve, it may shape the broader supervisory environment for payments, tokenized assets, and stablecoins. The bill does not alter existing AML/KYC, sanctions, consumer-protection, or recordkeeping expectations. Firms are expected to keep core controls in place while tracking potential guidance clarifying what qualifies as "substantially similar" and how regulators will interpret the stablecoin descriptors. Internationally active institutions will still need to navigate diverging frameworks, including the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime, where requirements on token classification, issuer obligations, reserves, authorization, and disclosures may not align with the U.S. approach. What comes next The immediate catalyst is presidential approval. Once enacted, markets will watch for interpretive clarity on the "substantially similar" standard, the stablecoin carveout terms, and any follow-on regulatory guidance, alongside continued debate in Congress over broader crypto market structure rules covering trading, custody, and market conduct. This article was originally published as House Passes Housing Bill to Block CBDCs Until 2030, Awaits Trump on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.