IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5403 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Reserve Act to prohibit the Federal 

reserve banks from offering certain products or services 

directly to an individual, to prohibit the use of central 

bank digital currency for monetary policy, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CBDC Anti-Surveil3 lance State Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS RE5 LATING TO CERTAIN PRODUCTS OR SERV6 ICES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND PROHIBITION 

7 ON DIRECTLY ISSUING A CENTRAL BANK DIG8 ITAL CURRENCY. 

9 Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(18) A Federal reserve bank shall not— 

12 ‘‘(A) offer products or services directly to 

13 an individual; 

14 ‘‘(B) maintain an account on behalf of an 

15 individual; or 

16 ‘‘(C) issue a central bank digital currency, 

17 or any digital asset that is substantially similar 

18 under any other name or label, directly to an 

19 individual.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS INDI21 RECTLY ISSUING A CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL 

22 CURRENCY. 

23 Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended 

24 by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 

25 following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(19)(A) A Federal reserve bank shall not offer 

2 a central bank digital currency, or any digital asset 

3 that is substantially similar under any other name 

4 or label, indirectly to an individual through a finan5 cial institution or other intermediary. 

6 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) may not be construed 

7 to prohibit any dollar-denominated currency that is 

8 open, permissionless, and private, and fully preserves 

9 the privacy protections of United States coins and 

10 physical currency.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CENTRAL BANK DIG12 ITAL CURRENCY FOR MONETARY POLICY. 

13 Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended 

14 by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(20) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CENTRAL

17 BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY FOR MONETARY POL18 ICY.—The Board of Governors of the Federal Re19 serve System and the Federal Open Market Com20 mittee shall not use any central bank digital cur21 rency, or any digital asset that is substantially simi22 lar under any other name or label, to implement 

23 monetary policy.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Reserve Act (12 

3 U.S.C. 221 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

4 16 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 16A. CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Governors of the 

7 Federal Reserve System may not, absent Congressional 

8 authorization, design, build, develop, establish, or issue a 

9 central bank digital currency. 

10 ‘‘(b) CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY DE11 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘central bank digital 

12 currency’ means a form of digital money or monetary 

13 value, denominated in the national unit of account, that 

14 is a direct liability of the Federal Reserve System.’’. 

15 (b) TREASURY.—Chapter 3 of subtitle I of title 31 

16 of the United States Code is amended by inserting after 

17 section 316 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 317. CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

20 may not, absent Congressional authorization, direct the 

21 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to de22 sign, build, develop, establish, or issue a central bank dig23 ital currency. 

24 ‘‘(b) CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY DE25 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘central bank digital 

26 currency’ means a form of digital money or monetary 


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1 value, denominated in the national unit of account, that 

2 is a direct liability of the central bank.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. PROTECTION FOR OPEN, PERMISSIONLESS, AND 

4 PRIVATE CURRENCY. 

5 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

6 not apply to any dollar-denominated currency that is open, 

7 permissionless, and private, and fully preserves the privacy 

8 protections of United States coins and physical currency. 

9 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that the Board of Gov11 ernors of the Federal Reserve System should not be per12 mitted to develop, create, or implement a central bank dig13 ital currency, or use any such tool to implement monetary 

14 policy. 

15 SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CUR16 RENCY TESTING. 

17 Section 16A of the Federal Reserve Act, as added by 

18 section 5, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL

20 CURRENCY TESTING.—Unless authorized by an Act of 

21 Congress enacted after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys23 tem and the Federal reserve banks may not establish, 

24 carry out, or approve a program intended to test the prac25 ticability of issuing a central bank digital currency, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jun 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5403.RFS H5403

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1 ing by partnering or coordinating with a private sector en2 tity to carry out such a program.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 23, 2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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