Recently, I noticed a fairly interesting policy development. It seems that the U.S. Congress is going to make a final decision on the CBDC issue. The latest report from the research team at investment bank TD Cowen shows that Congress is very likely to add a permanent ban clause to the housing bill, completely banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar.

This is not a temporary restriction, but a permanent legal ban, and the likelihood is also quite high. In the report, Jaret Seiberg, head of TD Cowen’s Washington research division, clearly pointed out that this amendment is expected to be submitted to the President as early as next month. To be honest, this isn’t news for the Federal Reserve, because they have already repeatedly stated that they have no plans to issue a CBDC. So, this ban mainly serves to lock in their existing position in law.

From a market perspective, this decision is actually good news for stablecoin issuers. A permanent ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a digital dollar means the stablecoin space has one fewer potential competitor, and market doubts will also dissipate. But the problem is that this could become a new obstacle to the progress of later crypto-friendly bills such as the Clarity Act. Some lawmakers may use the rationale, “We’ve already passed the GENIUS Act and the CBDC ban,” and feel that enough attention has already been given to the industry, so they may be less proactive about advancing other bills.

Overall, this is a clear policy stance from the U.S. on digital currencies—at least when it comes to the Federal Reserve issuing an official digital currency, the road has been blocked.