“Crypto week” on Capitol Hill is in doubt as a group of Republican holdouts negotiates with House leadership over concerns they have with the language on digital assets.
As of 6 p.m., a key procedural vote to advance three cryptocurrency-related bills had been held open for over four hours as lawmakers worked to codify a ban on central bank digital currencies.
Specifically, the vote is to advance a Defense Department appropriations bill bundled with three crypto measures: the CLARITY Act, the Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency Surveillance State Act, and the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, or GENIUS, Act.
The delay has thrown a further wrench in an impasse that many expected was resolved after President Donald Trump met with the holdouts at the White House on Tuesday night. But as the afternoon turned to evening, there were still nine “no” votes on the board, enough to tank the legislation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and members of his conference have been meeting throughout the day to discuss their concerns, chiefly a provision holdouts want added that contains language explicitly prohibiting CBDCs.
A CBDC is a form of digital currency issued by a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve. If there were a domestic CBDC, consumers could use digital money issued directly by the central bank and physical money like cash.
Proponents of a CBDC argue that a centralized dollar would help prevent bank bailouts and increase efficiency. However, critics, such as the conservative Freedom Caucus, say that it would give the Fed too much power or raise Fourth Amendment concerns surrounding access to individual accounts.
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Essentially, the group of lawmakers is holding hostage the whole bundle of legislation in their bid to get a ban on CBDCs in writing.
If a negotiation is finalized and the procedural vote passes on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, the House could vote on the crypto legislation itself later this week.