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Trump: Facebook Will Need a Banking Charter for Libra Digital Currency Project

The president says he is “not a fan” of cryptocurrency and predicts the social media giant’s digital currency will have “little standing.”

President Trump blasted Facebook’s Libra digital currency plans late Thursday, apparently linking the Libra project to a potential rise in “unlawful behavior” and saying the social media giant will have to seek a banking charter if it wants to “become a bank.” “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 tweeted. “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity,” he wrote. On Facebook’s project, which the company unveiled last month, the president declared Libra would have “little standing or dependability.” “We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable,” he wrote. Facebook said its Libra currency could be available as early as next year, with users able to buy the currency and store it in a digital wallet, from which they could easily transfer the money or use it to pay bills. The project has drawn scrutiny by those in Washington, with Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee writing an open letter requesting a “moratorium” on the project’s development.

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Julia ArcigaReporter

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