I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2211 

To direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to conduct 

a study on central bank digital currencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself and Mr. HILL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System to conduct a study on central bank digital currencies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Central Bank Digital 

5 Currency Study Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) A January 2021 survey by the Bank for 

9 International Settlements found that 86 percent of 

10 central banks, representing countries with close to 


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1 72 percent of the world’s population and 91 percent 

2 of global economic output, are currently or will soon 

3 be engaged in work relating to CBDC, with almost 

4 three-quarters of such central banks having moved 

5 beyond the research of CBDC to experimentation, 

6 proof of concept, or testing activities. 

7 (2) Since December 2016, the European Cen8 tral Bank and the Bank of Japan have conducted a 

9 joint research project named ‘‘Project Stella’’, which 

10 aims to conduct experimental work and conceptual 

11 studies exploring the opportunities of digital ledger 

12 technologies and challenges for the future of finan13 cial market infrastructures, including CBDCs. 

14 (3) Since 2014, the People’s Bank of China has 

15 conducted research and development activities for a 

16 CBDC, and in October 2020, launched a digital 

17 yuan pilot program in Shenzhen. 

18 (4) In August 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank 

19 of Boston announced a collaboration with the Digital 

20 Currency Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of 

21 Technology to perform technical research related to 

22 a central bank digital currency. 

23 (5) In October 2020, the Financial Stability 

24 Board, in coordination with the BIS’s Committee on 

25 Payments and Market Infrastructures, released a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2211.IH H2211

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1 port to provide a roadmap for enhancing cross-bor2 der payments, including an exploration of new pay3 ment infrastructures presented by central bank dig4 ital currencies. 

5 (6) In January 2020, the Bank for Inter6 national Settlements announced that the Bank of 

7 England, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of Japan, 

8 the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, 

9 the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of Inter10 national Settlements had formed a group to share 

11 information on the potential uses of CBDC in the 

12 central banks’ jurisdictions, as well as information 

13 on potential economic, functional, and technical de14 sign choices. 

15 (7) According to data from the International 

16 Monetary Fund, as of the third quarter of 2019, the 

17 United States dollar share of global currency re18 serves totaled $6,750,000,000,000, or 61.78 percent 

19 of all allocated reserves, and the standing of the 

20 United States dollar as the world’s predominant re21 serve currency enables the United States to use eco22 nomic sanctions as a foreign policy tool. 

23 (8) According to a 2018 report by the Board of 

24 Governors of the Federal Reserve System, cash con25 tinues to be the most frequently used payment inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2211.IH H2211

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1 strument, representing 30 percent of all transactions 

2 and 55 percent of transactions under $10, with 77 

3 percent of those transactions made in-person. 

4 (9) The Federal Reserve System is responsible 

5 for, among other things, conducting United States 

6 monetary policy, promoting the stability of the fi7 nancial system, supervising financial institutions to 

8 ensure safety and soundness, ensuring the safety 

9 and efficiency of payment systems, and issuing and 

10 circulating Federal Reserve notes. 

11 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that— 

13 (1) the Board of Governors should continue to 

14 conduct research on, design, and develop, a CBDC 

15 that takes into account its impact on consumers, 

16 businesses, the United States financial system, and 

17 the United States economy, including the potential 

18 impact of a CBDC on monetary policy; and 

19 (2) the United States should strive to maintain 

20 its leadership in financial technology and ensure that 

21 the U.S. dollar remains the predominant reserve cur22 rency in the world economy. 

23 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT. 

24 (a) STUDY.—The Board of Governors of the Federal 

25 Reserve System, in consultation with the Comptroller of 


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1 the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 

2 the Department of the Treasury, the Securities and Ex3 change Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading 

4 Commission, shall conduct a study on the impact of the 

5 introduction of a CBDC on— 

6 (1) consumers and small businesses, including 

7 with respect to financial inclusion, accessibility, safe8 ty, privacy, convenience, speed, and price consider9 ations; 

10 (2) the conduct of monetary policy and inter11 action with existing monetary policy tools; 

12 (3) the effectiveness of United States economic 

13 sanctions programs and the status of the United 

14 States dollar as a reserve currency; 

15 (4) the United States financial system and 

16 banking sector, including liquidity, lending, and fi17 nancial stability mechanisms; 

18 (5) the United States payments and cross-bor19 der payments ecosystems, including the FedNow 

20 Service; 

21 (6) compliance with existing AML/BSA, illicit 

22 financing, and related laws and regulations, and 

23 electronic recordkeeping requirements; 


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1 (7) data privacy and security issues related to 

2 CBDC, including transaction record anonymity and 

3 digital identity authentication; 

4 (8) the international technical infrastructure 

5 and implementation of such a system, including with 

6 respect to interoperability, cybersecurity, resilience, 

7 offline transaction capability, and programmability; 

8 (9) the likely participants in a CBDC system, 

9 their functions, and the benefits and risks of having 

10 third parties perform value-added functions, such as 

11 fraud insurance and blocking suspicious trans12 actions; and 

13 (10) the operational functioning of a CBDC 

14 system, including— 

15 (A) how transactions would be initiated, 

16 validated, and processed; 

17 (B) how users would interact with the sys18 tem; and 

19 (C) the role of the private sector and pub20 lic-private partnerships. 

21 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 


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1 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report that 

2 provides the following: 

3 (1) The results of the study conducted under 

4 subsection (a). 

5 (2) Based on such study, one or more rec6 ommended feasible models for the development of a 

7 CBDC that includes a description of the salient de8 sign, policy, and technical considerations therein, in9 cluding a model which takes into account the fol10 lowing: 

11 (A) Financial access and inclusion for 

12 unbanked and underbanked consumers, with 

13 the ability to make real-time digital payments 

14 and transactions through digital wallets. 

15 (B) Strong cybersecurity controls capable 

16 of mitigating cyber-related risks including 

17 ransomware, malware, and fraud and theft. 

18 (C) A strong digital identity verification 

19 system to prevent identity fraud and allow for 

20 compliance with applicable requirements relat21 ing to anti-money laundering, illicit financing, 

22 and security and authentication standards. 

23 (D) Mechanisms to account for instances 

24 of mistake, unauthorized transfers, or fraud 


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1 which may require transaction modification or 

2 reversibility. 

3 (E) The capacity for third-party features 

4 such as custody and recoverability, account and 

5 transaction monitoring, and other services. 

6 (F) Third-party transaction anonymity 

7 which protects user privacy and only allows for 

8 traceability when otherwise required by law, in9 cluding through a court order. 

10 (G) Interoperability with other U.S. and 

11 international payments systems. 

12 (3) A timeline for CBDC development and de13 ployment of the recommended models in paragraph 

14 (2), that includes relevant interim milestones. 

15 (4) A description of any legal authorities, if 

16 any, the Board of Governors would require to imple17 ment the CBDC model set forth in paragraph (2), 

18 including any authority with respect to— 

19 (A) the issuance of digital currency; 

20 (B) licensing and supervision of digital 

21 currency transmission services and nonbank 

22 technology providers to the extent they provide 

23 CBDC-related services; and 

24 (C) international agreements which would 

25 be necessary to allow foreign nationals to utilize 


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1 CBDC’s while preserving appropriate privacy 

2 and legal traceability. 

3 (c) CBDC DEFINED.—In this Act, the term 

4 ‘‘CBDC’’ means central bank digital currency. 

Æ 


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