After years of white papers, pilot programs, and conference keynotes about the inevitable rise of central bank digital currencies, the public-facing CBDC agenda in Western economies has been dramatically scaled back. The shift is most pronounced in the US, where a January 2025 executive order from President Trump effectively slammed the door on federal CBDC ambitions.

The American U-turn

Executive Order 14178, signed in January 2025, prohibited federal agencies from establishing or promoting a CBDC.

The Federal Reserve has stated plainly that it does not intend to proceed with CBDC issuance without clear support from both the executive branch and Congress. Technical pilots reportedly continue in an exploratory capacity, but the public-facing enthusiasm has evaporated.

The political calculus is straightforward. Privacy concerns around a government-issued digital dollar became potent campaign material, and the current administration decided that private-sector solutions could handle the digital payments problem without the surveillance baggage.

The global picture is more complicated

China continues to be the most aggressive mover. The People’s Bank of China expanded its e-CNY pilot in April 2026 to include 12 additional commercial banks. In January 2026, the PBoC reclassified the digital yuan as deposit liabilities, integrating the e-CNY more deeply into the existing banking infrastructure rather than floating as a separate experimental layer.

The European Central Bank remains in a preparatory phase for a potential digital euro, with a retail launch not anticipated until after 2027-2028.

The Bank of England is focused primarily on design considerations for a digital pound, with no firm timeline.

According to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC Tracker, updated in May 2026, 146 countries are still exploring CBDCs in some form. Of those, 77 have advanced to later phases of development.

Stablecoins step into the gap

The passage of the GENIUS Act in 2025 gave the US a regulatory framework for stablecoins, creating a licensed pathway for private digital dollars to operate within the traditional financial system. Rather than building a government-run digital currency from scratch, US policymakers opted to regulate the private alternatives that already existed.

What this means for investors

The cooling of CBDC rhetoric creates several dynamics worth watching.

First, stablecoin infrastructure is becoming a more attractive investment thesis. Companies building payment rails, compliance tools, and custody solutions for regulated stablecoins are positioned to benefit from the regulatory clarity provided by frameworks like the GENIUS Act.

Second, if retail CBDCs in Western economies are effectively shelved for the next several years, private digital payment networks have a longer runway to establish market dominance.

Third, the e-CNY’s continued expansion creates a two-track global system: one where the US and Europe rely on privately issued, regulated stablecoins for digital payments, and another where China deploys a fully state-controlled digital currency, with implications for cross-border payments, trade settlement, and dollar hegemony.

The executive order that shut down US CBDC development can be undone by the next executive order, representing a key risk of reversal to this current trajectory.