Disclaimer: This story is breaking and will be subject to updates. United States President Donald Trump voiced his opposition to cryptocurrencies as a whole, citing Bitcoin and Libra specifically, in a series of tweets published around 8:15 p.m. EST on July 11. The full text of the three tweets reads: “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....” “...Similarly, Facebook Libra’s ‘virtual currency’ will have little standing or dependability. …

Facebook’s unveiling of its Libra cryptocurrency has generated a lot of attention in the financial world, as well as in the crypto space. So far, the company has announced that its Libra blockchain network will be launched in 2020 and backed by a separate entity, the Libra Foundation. The cryptocurrency is set to enable users to make faster and cheaper international payments online, using platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. The Libra currency Just like any other cryptocurrency, Libra is set to have its own wallet called Calibra. Users would be able to send and receive Libra through this …

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there needs to be broad satisfaction with the way Facebook is handling regulatory concerns regarding its forthcoming stablecoin Libra. Powell gave his comments in a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on July 10. Rep. Steve Stivers asked Powell during the meeting, “if Facebook can’t sufficiently answer your questions about anti-money laundering, Know Your Customer, what would your message be to the banks that provide banking to Facebook, and what would your advice to Facebook be?” Powell replied: “ … I just think it cannot go forward without there being broad satisfaction with …

Facebook’s long-awaited stablecoin Libra could face a difficult roll out in Thailand due to the coin’s uncertain legal status in the country, an expert told the Bangkok Post on July 9. Fiscal Policy Office legal officer Sumaporn Manason argued that Libra will likely run up against difficulties entering Thailand as the cryptocurrency does not fall under any of local financial legislation. Sumaporn stated: “The cryptocurrency does not fit under the Bank of Thailand's Currency Act because it does not have the characteristics of legal tender as stipulated by law. These characteristics refer to a banknote or coin having value in …

David Marcus, the head of Calibra at Facebook, has written a letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters and members of the House Financial Services Committee in preparation for the upcoming Libra hearings, according to a report by The Hill on July 9. According to the report, Marcus wrote, "I want to give you my personal assurance that we are committed to taking the time to do this right.” In addition to being the head of the Calibra wallet, LinkedIn lists David Marcus as the co-creator of Libra. Marcus’ letter is only the latest in a lengthy rally between Congress and Facebook …

India’s authorities have expressed concern over Facebook’s forthcoming stablecoin Libra, Bloomberg reported on July 8. Subhash Garg, Economic Affairs Secretary at India’s Ministry of Finance, told Bloomberg that the “design of the Facebook currency has not been fully explained. But whatever it is, it would be a private cryptocurrency and that’s not something we have been comfortable with.” Facebook’s Libra is set to be a stablecoin pegged to a reserve of assets which would purportedly preclude the coin from volatility. In late June, Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures argued that Libra carries the risk of becoming a financial monopoly as …

China’s central bank is reportedly developing its own digital currency in response to Facebook’s Libra as the latter could purportedly pose a risk to the country’s financial system, the South China Morning Post reported on July 8. Wang Xin, director of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) research bureau, argued that “if [Libra] is widely used for payments, cross-border payments in particular, would it be able to function like money and accordingly have a large influence on monetary policy, financial stability and the international monetary system?” Wang said that the bank decided to create its own digital currency specifically because …

Since the beginning of 2018, rumors and then news about some large players entering the blockchain industry mesmerized the crypto community. Presently, the projects promoted by JPMorgan Chase, Facebook and Telegram are at the testnet level, but the companies have disclosed more accurate information about them. The differences among the three projects are enormous — their aims, business models, technology, etc. Some similarities exist, nevertheless. However, with diversified feelings toward these projects, the community pointed out the challenges that they have introduced to the industry. This time, the proposal for a new cryptocurrency is not coming from an adventurous startup …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Bitcoin price “extremely bullish” again after 20% pump over $11,000 True to form, Bitcoin (BTC) took markets and the media by surprise when prices leapt by more than 20% in 24 hours. Prices against the dollar had dwindled as low as $9,688 earlier in the week — but by Wednesday, they surged back to …

European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure said that financial regulators must act fast to prepare for Facebook’s Libra stablecoin, Bloomberg reports on July 7. Per Bloomberg, Coeure argued on Sunday in Aix-en-Provence in southern France that allowing for the development of new financial services and asset classes in a regulatory void is irresponsible. He concluded: “We [financial regulators] have to move more quickly than we’ve been able to do up until now.” According to Coeure, the development of digital assets has exposed gaps in current financial regulations, and underlines banks’ slow rate of adoption of new technologies: “All …

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of payments company Circle, said that Facebook's Libra will run in a closed-loop permission scheme that has its own requirements for regulation during an interview with Bloomberg released on July 5. During the interview, Allaire pointed out that there are different stablecoin implementations distinct in their regulatory approach. He explained: “There’s a really key difference between stablecoins that run on kind of closed-loop permission schemes — which is how Libra is being proposed today, at least in its initial incarnation — versus stablecoins that can run on the public internet.” Allaire also specified that the …

Accounting for almost 40% of bitcoin tweets worldwide, the United States looms large over crypto twitter. According to a new thread of tweets, published July 3, by crypto data and infrastructure provider The TIE, overall 38.9% of total bitcoin tweets come from the U.S. Another 10.5% come from the UK. The top five countries generating bitcoin discussion on Twitter are the U.S., U.K., Canada, Turkey and India, the TIE reveals. In an analysis of how far that social media sentiment is positive, the TIE has found that — in order — Peru, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Italy show the most …