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Executive order barring a US CBDC (Jan 23, 2025)
Jan 23, 2025· Law or rule
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
A January 2025 executive order barred federal agencies from creating or promoting a central bank digital currency, and backed private stablecoins instead.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
Executive Order 14178, 'Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology', signed January 23, 2025, told agencies to stop any work to 'establish, issue, or promote' a CBDC at home or abroad. It revoked President Biden's 2022 digital-asset order, which had called for study of a US CBDC. It also created the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, chaired by White House adviser David Sacks, which issued a long report in July 2025.
Why it matters
It set US policy firmly on privately issued digital dollars, paving the way for the GENIUS Act six months later.
Facts, rules and data
The order's text in the Federal Register; the Working Group's July 30, 2025 report; earlier Fed statements that it would not issue a CBDC without Congress.
Debates and risks
Whether an executive order can bind the Fed, which is independent; a July 2026 law now bars a Fed CBDC through 2030 anyway.
Connections (4)
▸Executive order barring a US CBDC (Jan 23, 2025) ruled out the Fed-issued form of The digital dollar: stablecoins vs. a Fed-issued CBDCFact, law or data
The connection
The order closed the government-issued path to a digital dollar by telling agencies to end any CBDC plans. That left private tokens, stablecoins and tokenized deposits, as the only US route, and the administration then pushed the GENIUS Act through Congress.
When and why
White House, January 23, 2025, three days after the inauguration.
How we know
The order's text; no federal agency has pursued a CBDC since it was signed.
Debates and risks
Whether the order ever bound the Fed, which had already said it would not act without Congress.
▸Executive order barring a US CBDC (Jan 23, 2025) bans US agencies from issuing Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)Fact, law or data
The connection
It bars every federal agency from establishing, issuing or promoting a CBDC in the US or abroad, and orders any existing plans ended. That puts the US against the global trend: over 130 countries are exploring CBDCs, and China and the euro area are building them.
When and why
Signed January 23, 2025, by President Trump as Executive Order 14178.
How we know
The order's text in the Federal Register; the Atlantic Council's CBDC tracker shows the global contrast.
Debates and risks
Whether opting out costs the US influence over standards for cross-border digital payments.
▸Executive order barring a US CBDC (Jan 23, 2025) promotes dollar-backed Stablecoins: crypto tokens pegged to a currencyFact, law or data
The connection
The same order made it US policy to promote 'lawful and legitimate dollar-backed stablecoins worldwide'. It set up a working group to propose a federal framework for digital assets, including stablecoins, which fed into the GENIUS Act signed six months later.
When and why
January 23, 2025; the President's Working Group delivered its report on July 30, 2025.
How we know
The order's text and the Working Group's published report.
Debates and risks
Whether government promotion of private tokens invites conflicts of interest; critics cite the Trump family's stake in World Liberty Financial, issuer of the USD1 stablecoin.
▸Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (passed House; not law) would write into law Executive order barring a US CBDC (Jan 23, 2025)Fact, law or data
The connection
An executive order lasts only until a later president revokes it. The bill would turn the order's CBDC ban into a statute binding the Fed itself. Congress went partway in July 2026, writing a Fed CBDC ban through 2030 into a housing law.
When and why
House passage on July 17, 2025, six months after the January 2025 order.
How we know
The two texts overlap closely; the 2026 law covers only the Fed and only through 2030.
Debates and risks
Whether a future administration revokes the order, and whether Congress extends the ban past 2030.