U.S. Senate votes 89–10 to ban a Federal Reserve digital dollar until 2030
Source: CoinDesk, March 12, 2026
On March 12, the U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a vote of 89 to 10. The legislation is primarily a sweeping housing reform bill, but tucked into its final pages is a provision that prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, until December 31, 2030. The margin was bipartisan by any reasonable measure, wider even than the 68-30 vote that passed the GENIUS Act, the country's first stablecoin framework, in 2025.
The CBDC provision carves out explicit exceptions. Private, dollar-denominated digital currencies that are open, permissionless, and privacy-preserving are not affected. That means USDC, USDT, and the broader stablecoin ecosystem continue to operate normally. The ban targets only a retail digital dollar issued directly by the Federal Reserve or through financial intermediaries on its behalf.
Why the vote margin matters
Crypto policy observers have noted that an 89-10 vote on any topic involving digital assets is nearly without precedent. It signals that financial privacy concerns have moved well beyond the traditional Republican coalition. Senators from both parties cited the same core argument: a government-controlled programmable currency could enable surveillance of individual financial activity at a scale that neither existing bank secrecy laws nor constitutional protections were designed to constrain.
Why it matters
Congress is actively choosing private stablecoin infrastructure over a state-issued digital dollar. That choice accelerates the runway for companies like Circle and Tether, hardens the regulatory moat around the GENIUS Act framework, and sharpens the contrast with China's expanding e-CNY program. The path forward for a U.S. government digital dollar now requires an explicit act of Congress, not just Federal Reserve discretion.
What comes next
The bill now moves to the House of Representatives, where its path is uncertain. Several House lawmakers have signalled they may push back on the CBDC provision, arguing that a temporary ban until 2030 could be interpreted as implicit authorisation after that date expires. Others object to unrelated provisions in the housing package. President Trump has also stated he will not sign any legislation until Congress passes voter-ID legislation, adding a further procedural layer of uncertainty. The crypto industry is watching to see whether the CBDC ban can survive as a standalone measure
| Legislation | Senate vote | Status | Key effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| GENIUS Act (2025) | 68–30 | Signed into law | Federal stablecoin framework |
| CBDC ban (21st Century ROAD Act) | 89–10 | House review pending | Fed barred from retail CBDC to 2030 |
| CLARITY Act | In progress | Senate markup expected | SEC/CFTC jurisdictional clarity |
Strategy buys 17,994 BTC for $1.28 billion, its largest purchase in seven weeks
Source: Fortune, March 9, 2026
Strategy, the firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, disclosed in an 8-K filing dated March 9 that it purchased 17,994 Bitcoin between March 2 and March 8 for a total cost of approximately $1.28 billion at an average price of $70,946 per coin. The acquisition was its largest single-week purchase in seven weeks and brought total holdings to 738,731 BTC.
The funding structure drew as much attention as the headline figure. Roughly $900 million, or about 70% of the total, was raised through at-the-market sales of Class A common stock. The remaining $377 million, approximately 30%, came from sales of its Stretch preferred shares, known as STRC. That split represented a meaningful acceleration of preferred share usage compared to the prior week, when STRC contributed only about 3% of acquisition funding.
The significance of STRC
STRC launched in July 2025 as a variable-rate perpetual preferred share instrument positioned by management as a short-duration savings product. The company recently raised the STRC dividend to 11.50% annualised for March 2026, the seventh consecutive monthly increase, in part to maintain demand as its common stock premium to net asset value has compressed. With the mNAV ratio now closer to 1.20, down sharply from prior highs, the firm is relying more heavily on the preferred equity layer to sustain its acquisition pace without diluting common shareholders at unfavourable terms.
Why it matters
This week marks a structural inflection point in how listed Bitcoin treasury companies finance accumulation. As NAV premiums compress sector-wide, the STRC model signals that preferred equity instruments, not convertible notes or common stock alone, may define the next phase of corporate Bitcoin acquisition. Firms watching Strategy's capital structure are effectively getting a live case study in Bitcoin treasury 2.0 mechanics.
Context: 77% of corporate BTC holdings are underwater
Strategy's sustained buying occurs amid a challenging backdrop for its peers. Research published in early March 2026 estimated that approximately 77% of corporate Bitcoin holdings across the sector are currently valued below their acquisition cost, as the asset trades near the mid-$60,000 range against a sector-wide average cost basis above $70,000. Strategy itself sits close to breakeven at an average cost of roughly $66,385 per coin. The firm's January and February 2026 purchases pushed its basis higher as the market declined, making the current range a critical psychological and accounting level for the sector.
| Funding source | Amount | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Class A common stock (ATM) | ~$900M | ~70% |
| STRC preferred shares (ATM) | ~$377M | ~30% |
| Total BTC purchased | 17,994 BTC | $1.28B cost |
Nasdaq partners with Kraken to develop tokenized stock trading, targeting a 2027 launch
Source: American Banker, March 9, 2026
Nasdaq announced on March 9 that it is working with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to develop a framework for tokenized equity securities. Under the plan, public companies could issue blockchain-based versions of their shares carrying full legal and regulatory equivalence to traditional stock: the same voting rights, the same dividend entitlements, and the same corporate action participation. The tokens would share a CUSIP with the underlying security, distinguishing this structure from synthetic products.
Kraken's parent Payward will build what it calls an equities transformation gateway using its xStocks framework, connecting Nasdaq's regulated markets with permissionless blockchain networks in approved jurisdictions. The initial distribution focus is international, particularly European retail investors who currently have limited access to U.S. equity markets through traditional brokerages. The launch is targeted for the first half of 2027, pending SEC approval of Nasdaq's September 2025 filing.
Why this deal is structurally significant
This is not a crypto exchange listing stocks. This is a regulated exchange operator formally embedding crypto-native infrastructure into its settlement and distribution architecture. The timing is relevant: Kraken Financial received a Federal Reserve master account the week prior, becoming the first crypto-native firm to access the Fed's core payment system directly. That banking milestone, combined with this partnership, means Kraken now sits at both ends of the emerging tokenized equity stack.
Why it matters
When a top U.S. exchange stakes its tokenization roadmap on crypto infrastructure, it signals that the "TradFi vs. crypto" framing is obsolete. The real competition is now between exchanges racing to own the always-on, programmable equity layer of the financial system. NYSE is developing a parallel blockchain trading platform. CME is exploring tokenized futures. The question is no longer whether tokenized equities will exist. It is which exchange builds the infrastructure that settles the $126 trillion global equity market on-chain first.
The xStocks track record
Payward's xStocks framework, developed through its acquisition of Backed Finance, has already processed over $25 billion in transactions and has more than 85,000 holders across supported blockchain networks. Those figures provide a credible proof point for institutional due diligence. However, analysts note that existing xStocks tokens are structured products and do not confer direct ownership, whereas the Nasdaq equity tokens would be direct issuer tokens sharing a CUSIP, making the new structure fundamentally different in its legal standing and investor protections.
| Exchange / Platform | Initiative | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq | Equity token with Kraken/Payward | H1 2027 target, SEC pending |
| NYSE / ICE | Blockchain trading platform | Regulatory approval sought |
| Kraken (xStocks) | Tokenized stocks for EU/global | Live, $25B+ traded |
| Coinbase / Dinari | U.S. tokenized equity push | In development |
Macquarie: stablecoin market cap hits $312 billion as Visa and Mastercard embed on-chain settlement
Source: CoinDesk, March 10, 2026
Australian investment bank Macquarie published a research note on March 10, framing stablecoins as an emerging layer of global financial infrastructure rather than a niche crypto trading instrument. The bank estimates the combined market capitalisation of major stablecoins, led by Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, at approximately $312 billion as of March 2026, up roughly 50% year-on-year. Adjusted stablecoin transfer volume reached approximately $11 trillion in 2025, the bank said, a figure that meaningfully rivals traditional payment network throughput.
While roughly 90% of stablecoin activity still originates from crypto trading, Macquarie's analysts observed that the remaining 10% is expanding across three distinct corridors: cross-border payments and remittances, corporate treasury operations, and tokenised asset settlement. Visa and Mastercard now support USDC settlement, allowing card network obligations to be discharged on-chain. That integration marks a qualitative shift, not just a quantitative one: two of the largest payment networks in the world are using stablecoin rails for real settlement, not merely as a pilot.
The regulatory tailwind
Macquarie's analysts pointed to the U.S. GENIUS Act, Europe's MiCA framework, and emerging licensing regimes in the Asia-Pacific as structural accelerants. Regulatory clarity is doing what market proponents have argued for years: converting institutional hesitance into institutional action. Banks that were studying stablecoins in 2024 are now integrating them. Payment networks that were running pilots in 2025 are now processing real volume in 2026.
Why it matters
When a traditional investment bank publishes a note calling stablecoins a layer of global financial infrastructure, the conversation in institutional boardrooms changes. Macquarie's framing validates a thesis that crypto-native analysts have held for years, but the audience for this research is not crypto-native. It is the global asset management and corporate treasury community. That audience now has institutional permission to treat stablecoin integration as a strategic, not speculative, decision.
What the $11 trillion figure actually means
Context is important when reading stablecoin volume statistics. A significant portion of the $11 trillion adjusted transfer volume reflects crypto market activity, including exchange settlement, DeFi protocol transactions, and collateral movement. However, Macquarie's note specifically identifies the growth in non-trading use cases as the analytically interesting signal. Cross-border remittances settled in stablecoins, payroll disbursements, and supplier payments represent real economic activity that previously ran through correspondent banking infrastructure at significantly higher cost and latency.
| Metric | Value (March 2026) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Combined stablecoin market cap | $312B | +50% YoY |
| Adjusted transfer volume (2025) | ~$11 trillion | Record high |
| Share from crypto trading | ~90% | Non-trading share growing |
| Visa + Mastercard USDC settlement | Live | Operational integration |
