Trump Declares He Is Not a Fan of Cryptocurrencies and Criticizes Libra
Whilst several countries have shown marked interest in crypto assets, central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, and other related offerings, the President of the United States of America Donald Trump expressed his thoughts this week, mostly criticizing the crypto space and, most notably, Bitcoin.
Via his official Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump (later retweeted by the official account of the US Presidency, @POTUS) Trump said that is not a fan of cryptocurrencies. He also stated that they cannot be considered money and criticized the price volatility in correlation to the US dollar.
“Bitcoins and Cryptocurrencies Are Not Money”
President Trump had not, to this point, talked about his stance towards cryptocurrencies very much. In fact, this week’s tweets represent the first time he opens himself and talks about the matter since he took position as the 45th president of the United States of America.
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity,” was his first tweet about the subject, and the replies, retweets and favorites took the scene.
Trump also wrote that “we have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”
“Libra Will Have little Standing or Dependability”
The president took advantage of the occasion to offer his opinion about Facebook’s crypto project, Libra, which was unveiled last month. The ecosystem, wallet, and coin will be available in the first half of 2020, and a white paper is already available. However, Trump does not seem to like it.
“Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National and International.”
In related news to Trump’s remarks, it should be noted that Calibra, which is expected to be the Libra coin open source wallet, recently registered as a money services business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Libra and the Attention from Regulators
It is evident that Trump and Facebook are not the best friends in the world, as the former has criticized the latter for bans to right-wing prominent people in the past. The United States’ leader held a social media summit earlier in the week.
Naturally, the appearance of Libra and Facebook onto the scene has earned extra attention from law enforcement agencies, regulators, and lawmakers around America. Facebook’s David Marcus already has hearings booked for next week with the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
Facebook and Libra have the difficult task to ease people’s concerns about the company’s privacy practices and user data management.
By Andres Chavez