Congress has finally struck a deal on what lawmakers are calling the biggest federal housing bill in decades, and it comes with a major twist for digital money. The agreement ends months of back‑and‑forth between the House and Senate and locks in a provision that would freeze any U.S. central bank digital currency until the end of the decade.
Leaders in both chambers announced the deal this week after a long standoff over competing versions of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The package aims to boost housing supply, curb institutional purchases of single‑family homes, and expand programs that support affordability and homeownership. One Senate summary describes it as “the largest bipartisan housing supply bill passed by Congress in decades.”
Earlier this spring, the Senate approved its version of the bill in an 89–10 vote, highlighting rare cross‑party agreement on housing costs ahead of the 2026 midterms. The House later passed its own hard‑fought package 396–13, backed by President Donald Trump after Republicans added curbs on large investors buying up homes. Negotiators have now merged those versions into a single compromise that both chambers’ leaders say they can move to the president’s desk.
CBDC “Pause Button” Until 2030
Folded into the housing bill is a provision that could reshape the U.S. digital currency debate. An amendment added in the Senate bars the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or any equivalent “digital dollar”—until at least 2030. It also restricts the Fed from using banks or other intermediaries to roll out a CBDC indirectly without explicit congressional approval.
Senator Ted Cruz and other Republicans had pushed for a permanent ban, warning that a retail CBDC could let Washington “monitor and control every dollar you spend,” but that effort fell short. Instead, the compromise imposes what one crypto analyst called a “multi‑year timeout,” blocking any digital dollar pilot through the end of this decade. The measure will not become law until the full housing bill clears both chambers in identical form, but the new deal means that step is now within reach.
A CBDC freeze would give private digital assets extra breathing room in the U.S. market. Without a digital dollar competing for mindshare, stablecoins and public blockchains will likely continue to dominate the fast‑growing world of on‑chain payments and tokenized finance.
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