Recently, an interesting development has occurred in the U.S. Congress. A group of lawmakers is pushing for a permanent ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), rather than a temporary suspension like before. What's the logic behind this? Simply put, what is a CBDC? It’s a digital currency issued by the government, but these lawmakers are concerned it could become a tool for surveillance.

Last Friday, Representative Claude, along with 28 colleagues, sent a letter to House Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Schumer explicitly stating their intention to completely prohibit the U.S. from issuing any form of CBDC. At the same time, the Senate Banking Committee released the HR 6644 bill, a 300-page document that includes a clause prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar before 2031.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time someone has raised this issue. The previous HR 1919 Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act passed the House, but the S 464 No CBDC bill proposed by Senator Lee got stuck in the Senate. These lawmakers believe that the revised legislative versions have weakened the original tough stance, so they are demanding a return to stricter language.

From their perspective, what kind of threat is a CBDC? There are mainly two concerns: first, privacy issues—lawmakers believe CBDCs could lead to “unconstitutional financial surveillance”; second, concentration of power—the Federal Reserve could gain broad, unaccountable control over citizens’ finances. This has gone beyond a simple technical debate and has become a constitutional and civil liberties issue.

From a market perspective, this political tug-of-war has far-reaching implications. Supporters argue that CBDCs can modernize payment systems and promote financial inclusion; opponents insist on privacy and decentralization principles. The direction Congress takes could shape the future regulatory environment for private digital assets and influence the development space for the crypto ecosystem.

The current situation is as follows: the fate of HR 6644 in the Senate remains uncertain, HR 1919 needs Senate approval to become law, and S 464 faces procedural hurdles. This reflects how difficult it is to reach bipartisan consensus on digital currency policy. The final legislative outcome will not only determine whether the U.S. issues a CBDC but also impact the competitive landscape of the entire digital financial ecosystem. It’s important to keep an eye on the progress of these bills in the Senate and the Federal Reserve’s stance on what a CBDC really is.