‘Cryptocurrency is not money’

Washington: Donald Trump expressed his mistrust of cryptocurrency on Thursday, saying it was "not money" and warning that those wishing to join the trade would have to abide by 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 tweeted. He added that cryptocurrency, whose electronic nature makes it nearly untraceable, could facilitate illegal activity.

Cryptocurrency has flourished since Bitcoin launched in 2009. But when Facebook unveiled plans last month for its own virtual currency, Libra, the announcement rattled financial regulators the world over.

With more than two billion Facebook users, the social media giant´s cryptocurrency -- which is slated for a 2020 launch and already has multiple partners -- could completely disrupt the financial world. But Trump said that Libra has "little standing or dependability."

He also warned Facebook and other companies that, should they launch their own cryptocurrency, they would have to abide by both American and international banking regulations. "We only have one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever," he tweeted. "It is called the United States Dollar!" A high-level G7 working group is expected to produce a preliminary report on asset-backed cryptocurrencies next week when the group´s finance ministers meet in France.