President Trump Signs Executive Order To Ban Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)

Today, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, titled “Strengthening American Leadership In Digital Financial Technology”. This EO officially banned the creation and issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, defining a CBDC as “a form of digital money or monetary value, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank.”

“Except to the extent required by law, agencies are hereby prohibited from undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs within the jurisdiction of the United States or abroad,” the order announced. “Except to the extent required by law, any ongoing plans or initiatives at any agency related to the creation of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be immediately terminated, and no further actions may be taken to develop or implement such plans or initiatives.”

The new EO will also establish a presidential working group to create a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets (including stablecoins), and evaluate the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile.

“The Working Group’s report shall consider provisions for market structure, oversight, consumer protection, and risk management,” stated the order. “The Working Group shall evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile and propose criteria for establishing such a stockpile, potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts.”

The EO defines the term “digital asset” as any digital representation of value that is recorded on a distributed ledger — which would include cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, digital tokens, and stablecoins.

The stockpile is expected to include or be fully in bitcoin. Last summer at The Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, Donald Trump pledged to create a national strategic bitcoin stockpile using the bitcoin already held by the government obtained from hacks and seizures. According to Arkham Intelligence data, the U.S. currently holds 198,109 bitcoin worth over $20.1 billion.

Following Trump’s speech at the conference, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis presented legislation to also create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, but in a different manner. Her bill would see the U.S. government purchase 200,000 bitcoin per year, for 5 years, until it has bought a total of 1,000,000 BTC. This legislation, however, would have to pass through both the House of Representatives and the Senate before making its way to the president’s desk for final approval.

So far, President Trump has kept his word on the Bitcoin related promises he made on the campaign trail. Earlier this week, President Trump gave a full and unconditional pardon to Bitcoin pioneer and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, which Trump pledged to accomplish in addition to creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, banning CBDC, creating a working group/advisory council, and more.

The full details of the executive order can be found here.

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