Bitcoin has a new critic – the U.S. President.
In a Twitter tirade Thursday, Donald Trump ripped Bitcoin and also criticized Facebook’s proposed Libra digital coin, saying that cryptocurrency companies should seek a banking charter and make themselves subject to U.S. and global banking regulations.
"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," Trump wrote on Twitter. "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," he added.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) said last month it would launch its global cryptocurrency in 2020. Facebook and 28 partners, including Mastercard Inc.,(NYSE: MA) PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Uber Technologies Inc.(NYSE: UBER) would form the "Libra Association" to govern the new coin. No banks are currently part of the group.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, (NYSE:JPM) the largest U.S. bank by assets, plans to launch its own digital coins as well. The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council, a panel of regulators that identifies risks to the financial system, is expected to review the new digital currencies.
Bitcoin, the best-known digital coin, was created in 2008 as an alternative to currencies controlled by governments and banks, but crypto trading and digital currencies remain largely unsupervised. The market has faced allegations of money laundering and terrorist financing.
