The President Donald Trump administration has ruled out the Federal Reserve’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
In fact, the Senate recently passed legislation banning CBDC until 2030, citing state surveillance fears.
In a recent press conference, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced the same sentiment and noted,
This Administration’s been very clear. There will be no Central Bank Digital Currency, which I think would be the first step toward tracking…so we’ve taken that off the table.
Bessent added that they’ve focused on stablecoin law and the CLARITY Act to bring back crypto investments into the U.S., calling it the “important thing.”
Status of the global CBDC race
For the unfamiliar, CBDCs are like stablecoins but issued by the state rather than private firms like Circle or Tether.
Supporters argue that this is the best way to ensure monetary sovereignty and ease of controlling money supply, just as they currently do with physical fiat to deal with inflation.
However, some proposed features like the backdoor freezing and limited expiries to prevent hoarding have raised concerns about state surveillance.
The debate has now devolved into whether central banks should explore wholesale CBDCs (high-value payments between governments and major financial institutions) or retail CBDCs that compete with stablecoins.
Given the widespread adoption of stablecoins, wholesale CBDCs for cross-border payments between major banks and governments make more sense.
In fact, most central banks are actively exploring this wholesale payments frontier via Project Agora, which is backed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
It’s not yet clear whether CBDCs will be involved when the live tests are done. However, as of late 2025, 91% of central banks were exploring CBDCs.
As of 2026, Kenya, the Philippines, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the U.S. have cancelled their CBDC plans. It’s worth pointing out that, however, the U.S. may rethink its CBDC project after 2030.
Only four countries have launched their CBDC, including Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, according to CBDC Tracker data. The rest are either under research or in the pilot phase (like China’s e-CNY and India’s e-rupee).
Final Summary
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent rejected any CBDC plans under the Trump administration, noting that they’ll focus on stablecoin law.
- About 100 countries are exploring CBDC either at the research, development, or pilot stage.
