Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reaffirmed that the Trump administration will not support a U.S. central bank digital currency, stating it would be the first step toward tracking and surveillance. Speaking during a White House press briefing on Thursday, Bessent argued that the most important thing the administration could do is to make digital assets come into the United States. He urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, stating that "all the nonsense that happens, all the things you read about, that's because it's the wild, wild west offshore, so we have to bring it onshore." Bessent noted recent legislative progress, including the GENIUS stablecoin bill securing bipartisan backing and the CLARITY Act continuing to move through the legislative process. The Treasury Secretary's comments come as Republican lawmakers continue pushing back against CBDCs, with Congressman Mike Flood revising the Senate version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to remove provisions that would have allowed CBDC restrictions to expire in 2030.
President Donald Trump intensified his push for lasting U.S. crypto regulation on May 27, declaring that America has become the global center for digital asset innovation. According to reports from Truth Social, Trump accused former SEC Chair Gary Gensler and what he called the "Anti-Crypto Army" of driving bitcoin and crypto innovation offshore. He vowed to codify a "future-proof" digital asset market structure that cannot be undone by the Crypto Haters, marking his continued commitment to resetting U.S. crypto policy. Trump claimed credit for "saving" the industry and turning America into the "cryptocurrency capital of the world." The remark sparked immediate industry and lawmaker action, with SEC Chair Paul Atkins reinforcing Trump's message, signaling a break from the agency's prior stance. Atkins promoted what he calls an "ACT" strategy — advancing, clarifying, and transforming SEC regulation" — which would shift oversight away from enforcement actions and toward formal rulemaking, updated disclosure standards, and closer coordination with the CFTC.
Bessent has emphasized the urgency of crypto legislation, writing in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that Congress should act quickly because Senate floor time is limited. He highlighted that the digital asset sector has grown into a $3 trillion market and nearly one in six Americans now own digital assets. The CLARITY Act has faced repeated delays as banking groups and crypto industry participants debated whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to offer yield-bearing products. The legislation defines most digital tokens as commodities and splits oversight between the CFTC and SEC, with the committee text specifically seeking to define when crypto tokens fall under SEC authority and when they fall under CFTC oversight. The bill includes provisions for decentralized software developers and customer assets in bankruptcy, addressing concerns raised by Senator Cynthia Lummis who highlighted that without the Clarity Act, if a digital asset exchange goes bankrupt, customers have no guaranteed right to their own assets.
Despite the Trump administration's rejection of CBDCs, about 100 countries are exploring CBDCs either at the research, development, or pilot stage. According to CBDC Tracker data, only four countries have launched their CBDC, including Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, with the rest either under research or in the pilot phase. The debate has devolved into whether central banks should explore wholesale CBDCs (high-value payments between governments and major financial institutions) or retail CBDCs that compete with stablecoins. As of 2026, Kenya, the Philippines, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the U.S. have cancelled their CBDC plans, though the U.S. may rethink its CBDC project after 2030. Most central banks are actively exploring wholesale payments via Project Agora, which is backed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Given the widespread adoption of stablecoins, wholesale CBDCs for cross-border payments between major banks and governments make more sense, as supporters argue this ensures monetary sovereignty and ease of controlling money supply.
The Clarity Act faces mounting political obstacles as its July 4th deadline approaches, with TD Cowen's Washington Research Group warning that the political environment is deteriorating for the essential crypto legislation. According to TheBlock, Jaret Seiberg, managing director at TD Cowen, remains pessimistic that Clarity will become law this year, noting that the committee vote shifted the fight to the full Senate rather than signaling any real deal had been reached. The political baggage piling up around the bill includes a legal settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that created a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, financial disclosures showing around 3,600 stock trades executed on Trump's behalf in the first quarter of 2026, and a New York Times report examining alleged ties between the Trump family and crypto and prediction market businesses. As Seiberg explained, "It makes it politically hard for a Democrat to back a crypto bill unless it contains conflict-of-interest standards that apply to the President."
