Bill > S1124

This bill aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from creating, implementing, or distributing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which is defined as a digital form of money directly issued by the Federal Reserve and widely available to the public. Specifically, the bill prohibits Federal Reserve banks from offering products or services directly to individuals, maintaining individual accounts, or issuing a CBDC either directly or indirectly through financial institutions. The legislation also bars the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee from testing, studying, developing, creating, or using a CBDC for monetary policy purposes. An important exception is included that would not prevent the creation of a dollar-denominated digital currency that is open, permissionless, and preserves the privacy protections of physical currency. The bill represents a congressional statement that the Federal Reserve does not currently have the authority to issue a CBDC and would require explicit congressional approval under the Constitution to do so, reflecting concerns about potential government surveillance and privacy implications of a centralized digital currency.

Housing and Urban Affairs

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1124/all-info