US president Donald Trump in a tweet on Thursday, July 11, expressed his lack of trust in Bitcoin and every form of cryptocurrency including Facebook’s Libra which the tech giant recently announced plans to release.
Following Trump’s tweet, on Monday bitcoin recorded a below $10,000 drop. This follows news of an estimated 20% drop in digital tokens during last weekend’s sell-off. Bitcoin’s drop is now estimated at about 17% while Ethereum dropped 18% and Litecoin dropped 13%.
In his tweet, Trump had admonished tech companies with plans to float digital tokens to become banks and operate under the banking regulations in the US. He claimed that with unregulated bitcoin use unlawful activities will become rampant in the US.
Though Trump’s blatant warning to Facebook Inc may present a major obstacle to its cryptocurrency plans, the tech company is prepared to defend its digital token in two US congressional hearings later this week.
The company also has plans to launch another subsidiary company called Calibra. Calibra will develop products and services that are based upon its digital token. With these services, Facebook intends to make money off its cryptocurrency.
For now, however, the tech giant’s lofty goals to make Libra an accepted form of payment in the US hang in the balance. It remains to be seen if Trump’s stated mistrust of cryptocurrencies will bring an end to these goals.
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
