24. Federal Reserve · Minor · Needs Congress
Let individuals use commodity-backed money alongside the dollar
Printed page 738 24. Federal Reserve
“In addition, Congress could simply allow individuals to use commodity-backed money without fully replacing the current system.”
What has happened
- Not started
Congress did not allow individuals to use commodity-backed money alongside the dollar. Legal tender remains as defined in 31 U.S.C. 5103, gold and silver coin remain taxable as property, and no bill in the 119th Congress would remove the federal tax or legal-tender obstacles to using commodity-backed money. A Federal Register full-text search for the quoted phrase "commodity-backed money" since 2025-01-20 returns zero documents.
No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
The one monetary instrument Congress did create in the window runs on the dollar, not on a commodity: the GENIUS Act (Public Law 119-27, 2025-07-18) authorizes permitted payment stablecoin issuers whose tokens must be backed one-for-one by dollars and short-dated Treasury instruments. Recorded here as a lead so a later pass does not read it as commodity-backed money.
Cluster negative search shared with #2019.
- Action
- expand
- Object
- Legal use of commodity-backed money
- ID
- 2020