Blockchain
The US House passes a bill banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC
The U.S. House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency.
The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, introduced by Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), seeks to prevent the U.S. central bank from continuing efforts toward developing a digital dollar. Republicans have expressed concern that a US CBDC could be used to control Americans.
Democrats said during debate before Thursday’s vote that concerns are overblown and that a ban would block innovation and research in the public sector. Overall, 213 Republicans and three Democrats voted for it, while 192 Democrats voted against it.
Thursday’s vote count is very different from the day before, when 71 Democrats joined 208 Republicans voting in favor of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, a cryptocurrency market structure bill that would give the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission greater spot market authority over digital assets and explains how another major regulator of the US markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission, can approach the sector.
Industry players welcomed Wednesday’s vote, the first on a bill focused exclusively on issues related to the cryptocurrency market, as a sign that the sector was finally receiving recognition of its importance.
“The House passage of FIT21 represents a watershed moment and a sign of congressional validation for the cryptocurrency industry in the United States,” said Kristin Smith, head of the Blockchain Association, a lobbying group of the sector.
Nicole Valentine, director of the Milken Institute’s FinTech department, also called the move a “positive step.”
However, both the market structure and anti-CBDC bills appear headed for a similar fate in the Senate – going nowhere – as half of Congress has no counterpart to either piece of legislation.