Bitcoin dips after Donald Trump says cryptocurrency ‘seems like a scam’
Bitcoin’s price dipped today after former US President Donald Trump said the cryptocurrency “seems like a scam” and called for regulators to take action.
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Trump ramped up the rhetoric against Bitcoin, complaining it posed a risk to the US dollar.
“Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam,” he said. “I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar… I want the dollar to be the currency of the world. That’s what I’ve always said.”
Bitcoin’s price dipped by more than one per cent following the comments to trade a little over $35,500.
It is not the first time Trump has been critical of Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency dropped by roughly $20,000 in 2019 after he said he was “not a fan” of it and rival digital currencies.
In a post on Twitter, from which he has since been banned, the then-president said crypto assets could “facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity”.
Nor is Trump the only prominent figure to influence the price of Bitcoin through his comments.
The value of Bitcoin and rival cryptocurrencies have been known to fluctuate wildly on the back of even the most concise tweets from outspoken Tesla founder Elon Musk.
Earlier today the Bank of England warned that a shift of deposits from high-street banks to digital currencies could cause widespread economic turbulence.
Governor Andrew Bailey struck a cautious tone on cryptocurrencies, adding that stablecoins — a form of digital currency linked to an underlying asset — would need to be carefully regulated.