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Bloomberg

President Donald Trump on Thursday night warned Facebook over its plan to create digital currency Libra, a move that poses a new obstacle to the company’s cryptocurrency ambitions.
“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,” Trump said in a series of posts on Twitter.
In the tweets, the president also expressed scepticism of digital currencies in general.
“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. “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”

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....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019


....Similarly, 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...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019


...and International. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

Trump’s entrance into the debate over Bitcoin and Libra could mark a significant development for crypto enthusiasts. The White House has largely remained silent on the subject even as federal regulators like the Securities Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and units of the Treasury Department have grappled with how to regulate virtual coins.
After tumbling last year, Bitcoin, the world’s most-traded cryptocurrency, has surged more than 200 per cent in 2019.
The market reaction to Trump’s comments was muted. Bitcoin traded at US$11,400 as of 10pm in Washington, little changed from its level before Trump tweeted. The cryptocurrency has more than tripled this year, recovering some of its losses from a 2018 crash, as the Libra project helped revive investor interest in digital assets.
Facebook declined to comment on Thursday night.
In Hong Kong, search for ‘cyber theft’ insurance stumps aspiring cryptocurrency exchanges
Trump’s Twitter comments add to the political heat that the world’s largest social network is already facing in Washington over its cryptocurrency agenda.
Lawmakers are preparing to grill the company on Libra at two hearings scheduled for next week and Facebook executives have been holding meetings across Capitol Hill for days to try to ease their concerns.
Trump’s remarks on Libra were posted just a few hours after a White House session on social media that was convened to discuss the grievances of conservatives that the big technology companies that control the platforms were biased against them.
Facebook has faced questions and scrutiny from regulators and politicians in both parties since it announced that it planned to enter the cryptocurrency market.

Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the proposed coin “raises many serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability”.
Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters expressed concern about the social networking giant’s plans for the token and questioned Powell about the Fed’s thinking on it.
Waters and others Democrats have been critical of Facebook’s strategy, and she said the company might ultimately want “to establish a parallel banking and monetary policy system” that would rival the US dollar.
Facebook has said repeatedly it plans to work with regulators to get Libra off the ground, and David Marcus, the Facebook executive who has spearheaded the Libra effort, will testify before multiple congressional committees next week.
Marcus wrote in a blog post last week that he wants to “ensure that Libra helps with the kinds of issues that the existing financial system has been fighting, notably around money laundering, terrorism financing, and more”.




So far, however, American regulators and lawmakers have mostly dithered over how to tackle the thorny issues surrounding the emergence of cryptocurrencies, like protecting consumers and keeping out criminals. But the entry of a huge company like Facebook is already forcing their hand.
Facebook was already under intense scrutiny in Washington for a series of stumbles and scandals that have many lawmakers itching for a fight. The company’s missteps include major data breaches and letting Russians hijack its platform during the 2016 election to push Trump’s candidacy.
The publication of a 12-page white paper late last month detailing the plans for Libra ignited the controversy. According to the paper, Facebook and its partners aim to launch “a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people” by next year.
Inside the rise and fall (and rise?) of crypto mining giant Bitmain
The virtual coin will be built on a new Blockchain infrastructure accessible from anywhere in the world. Facebook and its partners on the project have set up a non-profit organization in Switzerland to govern the payment network and will hold a reserve of bank deposits and short-term government securities that will back the coin, according to the document.
Trump’s Twitter comments drew an immediate rebuke from the Blockchain Association, which advocates for several major crypto firms in Washington. The trade association said on its Twitter page that Trump should support the industry because it will become increasingly important. “If you care about US leadership, you should support policies that support the growth of this industry *here*,” the group said.


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Donald Trump

Donald Trump blasts bitcoin, Facebook Libra, demands they face banking regulations

Facebook plans to build a digital currency called Libra. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 19, 2018 a technician inspects the backside of bitcoin mining at Bitfarms in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec. - Bitcoin surged to a near 16-month high above $11,000 June 24, 2019, overshadowing stock, foreign exchange and commodity markets and breathing new life into a sector that many had declared moribund. Bitcoin reached $11,280 at one point after powering through $10,000 for the first time since March of last year, propelled by a huge boost from Facebook's unveiling of its own digital unit Libra, analysts said. (Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP)

US President Donald Trump has told Facebook and bitcoin they need to meet banking regulations if they want to develop a currency and become banks. Photo: AFP

Facebook’s Libra forcing China to step up plans for its own cryptocurrency, says central bank official

Facebook released a white paper in June outlining plans to create its own long-awaited cryptocurrency and a related blockchain-based financial infrastructure project. Photo: Reuters

Employees check fans on mining machines at the Bitfarms cryptocurrency farming facility in Farnham, Quebec, Canada. Photo: Bloomberg

Bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency explained by its ‘creator’ in The White Paper

Everyone has heard of bitcoin, but few truly understand the concept and mechanics. The White Paper seeks to explain cryptocurrency and blockchain. Photo: Shutterstock

epa07422546 (FILE) - US whistleblower and politician Chelsea Manning speaks at the internet media convention re:publica in Berlin, Germany, 02 May 2018 (reissued 08 March 2019). A federal court on 08 March 2019 jailed Manning for not testifying to a grand jury that investigates into WikiLeaks. Chelsea Manning was convicted in 2010 of leaking US government documents and served seven years in military prison before her release in 2017. EPA-EFE/HAYOUNG JEON *** Local Caption *** 54303085

Bitcoin images

White Paper cover

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, a neon sign hanging in the window of Healthy Harvest Indoor Gardening in Hillsboro, Ore., shows that the business accepts bitcoin as payment. A raft of recent cyber-security firms and governments now cite the rising trend of 'crypto-jacking' _ in which devices are infected with invisible malicious cryptocurrency mining software that uses the computing power of victims' devices to mine virtual currency _ as the main cyber security threat to businesses and consumers worldwide. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus, File)

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World

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Policy

Trump’s comments mark a change from the White House’s usual silence on the subject even as federal regulators have grappled with how to regulate virtual coins
The market reaction to Trump’s comments was muted. Bitcoin saw little change from its level before Trump tweeted


Trump’s comments mark a change from the White House’s usual silence on the subject even as federal regulators have grappled with how to regulate virtual coins


Bitcoin

Facebook

Facebook Libra

United States

Donald Trump blasts bitcoin, Facebook Libra, demands they face banking regulations

Trump’s comments mark a change from the White House’s usual silence on the subject even as federal regulators have grappled with how to regulate virtual coins The market reaction to Trump’s comments was muted. Bitcoin saw little change from its level before Trump tweeted

Trump’s comments mark a change from the White House’s usual silence on the subject even as federal regulators have grappled with how to regulate virtual coins

The market reaction to Trump’s comments was muted. Bitcoin saw little change from its level before Trump tweeted