U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated that the current administration will not allow a central bank digital currency (CBDC), a digital form of money directly issued and regulated by the central bank. 

During a White House press briefing on Thursday, Bessent said CBDCs are clearly "off the table" and reaffirmed the Donald Trump administration's focus on making the U.S. a hub for digital assets.

"This administration has been very clear, there will be no central bank digital currency, which I think would be the first step toward tracking, so we have taken that off the table," Bessent said. "The most important thing we could do is to make digital assets come into the United States."

Bessent also mentioned that the GENIUS stablecoin legislation passed with bipartisan support, and the Clarity Act is gaining similar legislative momentum.

"When you look at digital assets, 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," the Treasury Secretary said. "So I would encourage the House and the Senate to get Clarity done."

Bessent previously said during his nomination hearing in January 2025 that he sees "no reason" for a U.S. CBDC, adding that it is for countries that have no other investment alternatives. Multiple Republican lawmakers have also opposed the idea, arguing that it could open the door to government surveillance of people's transactions.

Meanwhile, the Clarity Act, which aims to establish rules for the digital asset sector, passed the Senate Banking Committee earlier this month after multiple delays stemming from debates between U.S. banking lobby groups and crypto advocates over stablecoin rewards and concerns about the bill's ethics language.

Analysts still view the Clarity Act as far from the finish line. Jaret Seiberg, managing director at TD Cowen's Washington Research Group, said in a note earlier this week that the bill would need conflicts of interest standards applying to the U.S. President to gain enough Democratic support to pass.

President Trump also recently reaffirmed his goal of leading global digital asset regulation, writing on Truth Social on Wednesday that his administration will codify a "future-proof" digital asset market structure that cannot be undone by "crypto haters."