To designate the Russian-based mercenary Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist organization, and for other purposes.
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
This bill blocks the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department from creating a U.S. digital dollar (central bank digital currency or CBDC) unless Congress specifically authorizes it. It amends both the Federal Reserve Act and the U.S. Code to require explicit Congressional approval before any government-issued digital currency can be created.
Who Benefits and How
Privacy advocates and cryptocurrency/fintech companies benefit from this bill. By preventing a government-controlled digital dollar, private cryptocurrency exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and digital payment platforms face less competition from a potential government alternative. Financial privacy advocates gain assurance that the government cannot easily track all citizen transactions through a centralized digital currency system.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Federal Reserve loses the flexibility to develop and deploy digital currency innovations that other central banks worldwide are pursuing. Proponents of financial modernization and those who see CBDC as a tool for faster, cheaper payments face delays in potential benefits. The Treasury Department is restricted from directing monetary innovation in this area.
Key Provisions
- Explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC without Congressional authorization
- Prohibits the Treasury Secretary from directing the Fed to issue a CBDC
- Defines CBDC as digital money denominated in the national unit of account that is a direct liability of the Federal Reserve
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 Treasury from issuing or directing the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) without explicit Congressional authorization
Key Policy Areas
Finance, Monetary Policy, Digital Currency, Privacy
Primary Purpose
Prohibits the Federal Reserve and Treasury from issuing or directing the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) without explicit Congressional authorization
Policy Domains
Section 5 - Central Bank Digital Currency
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Cryptocurrency exchanges
- Stablecoin issuers
- Digital payment platforms
- Privacy advocates
- Traditional banks
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal Reserve
- Treasury Department
- CBDC proponents
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Menendez, with an amendment
Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Tillis, …
Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Tillis, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
High-value Wagner Group individuals, Russian mercenary groups (Wagner, PMC Patriot, etc.), Wagner Group and affiliated entities
Foreign service officers (hard-to-staff posts), US State Department, US State Department - Africa bureaus
Allied foreign government intelligence services, Allied foreign governments, Countries providing mining concessions to Wagner Group
Positive-direction: Allied foreign government intelligence services, Allied foreign governments
Negative-direction: Countries providing mining concessions to Wagner Group
Financial networks supporting Russian mercenaries, IMF and Export-Import Bank
Humanitarian NGOs operating in conflict zones, Peacebuilding and conflict resolution organizations
Entities providing material support to Wagner Group
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
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A form of digital money or monetary value, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the Federal Reserve System
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