House Leaders Add Central Bank Crypto Ban to Defense Policy Bill

Proposed legislation to ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital currency has been added to a House measure to set defense policy for the coming fiscal year.

A revised version of the House’s National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3838) posted Thursday would include the prohibition. See the text here.

The House passed a similar standalone bill (H.R. 1919; BGOV Bill Analysis) in July by a 219-210 vote. Just two Democrats voted for that measure, which would also bar the Fed from studying or testing a central bank digital currency.

The initial House vote ...