The US House has passed a major housing bill that includes a ban on central bank digital currencies until 2030, in what is set to be a major win for Republicans who have long pushed for such a measure.
The House voted 358-32 on Tuesday to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a day after the Senate voted 85-5 to pass the bill, which largely aims to tackle housing affordability. The bill now heads to US President Donald Trump, who has signaled support for the measure and is expected to sign it into law on Wednesday.
“Today, Congress delivered a major win for families working toward the American Dream,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott. “I look forward to President Trump signing it into law.”
CBDCs are a representation of fiat currency issued by a central bank on a ledger. The signing of the bill will be a win for Republicans who have tried to pass a CBDC ban for years, and for crypto advocates who see CBDCs as an attempt to repurpose technology made for decentralized assets into a centrally controlled asset.
The housing bill includes language that the Federal Reserve may not, directly or indirectly, “issue or create a central bank digital currency or any digital asset that is substantially similar to a central bank digital currency,” a clause that expires on Dec. 31, 2030.
Source: US Senate Banking Committee GOP
The bill’s quick passage comes after House and Senate leaders reached a deal to move forward with the housing bill last week, after previously disagreeing over multiple aspects of the legislation.
The bill has included the CBDC ban since the Senate passed a version of it in March. It also features a carve-out for crypto stablecoins, allowing “dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless and private.”
The CBDC ban revived language from Republican Representative Tom Emmer’s Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. That bill was introduced in June 2025 and passed the House a month later, but it never saw movement in the Senate.
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With the bill off lawmakers’ agenda, Congress can now focus on passing other legislation before the August recess and the November midterm elections.
One bill that has garnered particular interest is the Senate’s crypto market structure bill, dubbed the CLARITY Act, which many lawmakers have been pushing to advance.
Despite months of talks between lawmakers and crypto and banking lobbyists, the CLARITY Act is still seeing pushback, and the odds of it being passed this year have slipped.
Earlier this month, Galaxy Digital lowered its estimate of the Senate passing the bill before the end of the year, giving it a 60% chance as the congressional calendar tightens.
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