To amend the Federal Reserve Act to limit the ability of Federal Reserve banks to issue central bank digital currency.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The "No Central Bank Digital Currency Act" (No CBDC Act) prohibits the Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury, and all other federal agencies from creating or issuing a central bank digital currency directly to individuals or through intermediaries. This bill amends the Federal Reserve Act to prevent the federal government from establishing a government-run digital currency system similar to China's digital yuan.
Who Benefits and How
Private cryptocurrency companies, commercial banks, and fintech payment processors benefit significantly. By preventing the government from issuing a competing digital currency, these private sector entities maintain their market position in the digital payments space without facing competition from a federally-backed alternative. Commercial banks specifically retain their role as intermediaries in the digital economy, which protects their revenue streams from deposit accounts and payment processing.
Privacy advocates and consumers concerned about government surveillance also benefit, as the bill blocks a potential system where the federal government could directly track individual financial transactions through a government-issued digital wallet.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Federal Reserve and Department of the Treasury face the most direct restrictions. The Federal Reserve loses the authority to modernize its monetary policy toolkit with a CBDC, potentially limiting its options during future economic crises. The Treasury Department is prohibited from pursuing digital currency initiatives that could modernize government payments or financial services.
Advocates for financial inclusion bear an indirect burden. A CBDC could have provided unbanked and underbanked Americans with direct access to government-backed digital banking services without requiring a commercial bank account. This bill eliminates that policy option.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits any Federal Reserve Bank from minting or issuing a central bank digital currency directly to individuals or digital currency intermediaries
- Bans the Federal Reserve Board, Treasury Secretary, and other federal agencies from offering CBDC-related products or services to individuals
- Prevents federal agencies from maintaining accounts on behalf of individuals in any CBDC system, including through intermediaries
- Bars Federal Reserve Banks from holding government-issued digital currencies as assets or liabilities on their balance sheets
- Restricts the use of government digital currencies in fulfilling the Federal Reserve's statutory requirements under Section 2A of the Federal Reserve Act
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Prohibits the Federal Reserve and other federal agencies from issuing or managing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to individuals or through intermediaries.
Who Benefits
- Private cryptocurrency companies
- Commercial banks
- Digital currency intermediaries
Who Bears Costs
- Federal Reserve (loses potential CBDC authority)
- Department of Treasury (restricted from digital currency initiatives)
- Proponents of government-issued digital currency
Key Policy Areas
Banking, Monetary Policy, Digital Currency, Financial Regulation
Primary Purpose
Prohibits the Federal Reserve and other federal agencies from issuing or managing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to individuals or through intermediaries.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Prevent federal government from issuing or managing a central bank digital currency, maintaining separation between government and individual financial transactions in digital currency space"
Identified Gains
- Private cryptocurrency companies
- Commercial banks
- Digital currency intermediaries
- Privacy advocates
- Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms
Identified Costs
- Federal Reserve (loses potential CBDC authority)
- Department of Treasury (restricted from digital currency initiatives)
- Proponents of government-issued digital currency
- Central bank modernization advocates
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Ogles introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Commercial banks and financial institutions, Digital payment processors and fintech companies, Federal Reserve System
Positive-direction: Commercial banks and financial institutions, Digital payment processors and fintech companies
Negative-direction: Federal Reserve System
Proponents of financial inclusion through CBDC
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_board"
- → Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "any_other_agency"
- → Any other federal agency
- "federal_reserve_bank"
- → Any Federal Reserve Bank
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A digital currency minted or issued by the United States Government (implicitly defined as any digital currency that would be issued directly to individuals or digital currency intermediaries by federal entities)
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology