After years of fighting back against the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), I’m happy to share that the United States is the first country to prohibit its central bank from creating a CBDC. The ban was passed as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. As the name suggests, the legislative package is primarily about housing policy—something my colleagues have written about at length. It’s only at the very end that Congress included a prohibition on the creation of both a retail and intermediated CBDC. Given the risks of CBDCs, this passage marks a great win for financial freedom. At the same time, ... (full story)