DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서) - U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled the signing of a bipartisan housing bill that included a provision banning the U.S. government from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) through the end of 2030.

On June 24 (local time), blockchain outlet Decrypt reported that Trump called the bill low priority and said he would not sign it until a separate voting-rights bill passes Congress.

The bill at issue is the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. It seeks to boost new housing supply nationwide by easing construction regulations and limiting bulk home purchases by large Wall Street investors. It also includes a provision preventing the Federal Reserve (Fed) from issuing a CBDC. The ban runs through the end of 2030.

The bill had been expected to move into effect on June 24. Trump also planned to hold a large signing ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, but changed course hours before the event. Trump argued it was "not that important" and insisted that the SAVE America Act, which he has backed for months, must be handled first.

Republican leaders, however, have repeatedly stressed that the SAVE bill has little chance of actually passing. That makes Trump’s condition a factor that effectively delays the housing bill signing indefinitely.

The bill had a strong base of support in Congress. The Senate passed it 85-5 on June 23, and the House quickly approved it 358-32. Both votes exceeded from the outset the two-thirds threshold needed to override a veto. Even so, if Trump actually issues a veto, it remains unclear whether the same alignment would hold again.

The part drawing attention from the crypto industry and privacy advocates is the CBDC ban. The provision temporarily blocks the introduction of a government-backed digital asset in the form of a "digital dollar." Unlike major jurisdictions such as the European Union (EU), which are pursuing plans to issue CBDCs, U.S. conservatives have opposed a U.S.-style CBDC on the grounds it could become a channel for government access to citizens’ personal transaction data.

Against that backdrop, the cancelled signing appears to turn the U.S. CBDC debate back into a political issue. The bill itself contained weighty measures to expand housing supply and limit Wall Street’s accumulation of homes, but Trump played it down at the last minute. The venue had already been set up, and until just before the announcement, aides were promoting the bill’s positive effects online.

As a result, markets and policy circles are now watching two things at once: whether Trump will actually go as far as issuing a veto, and whether Congress can again rally bipartisan support to reprocess the bill. Because the CBDC ban was embedded in a housing-policy bill, the longer the delay drags on, the more uncertainty it also creates for the U.S. digital dollar debate.