Fed Digital Currency Ban Pushed by Hardline Conservatives

April 30, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

A band of hardline conservatives escalated a push to permanently ban the Federal Reserve developing a central bank digital currency, using must-pass legislation to jam it through.

Hardliners made the digital currency ban a red line during complex negotiations over reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this week and successfully added it to the House-passed measure. But senators are expected to reject it, with Democrats opposed and Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) insisting it can’t pass the chamber.

A fight over an as-yet nonexistent digital currency is the latest intraparty and inter-chamber flashpoint for GOP majorities, heightened ...

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