Bitcoin price tumbles following Trump’s criticism

Trump tweets he’s ‘not a fan’ of Bitcoin, crypto

President Trump weighed in on cryptocurrencies on Twitter.

The price of bitcoin tumbled Monday after President Trump tweeted Thursday that he was "not a fan" of cryptocurrencies and criticized Facebook’s Libra digital currency that’s set to launch next year.

Bitcoin price briefly hit below $10,000 just after midnight Monday, a two-week low for the leading digital coin, Coindesk’s data showed. The cryptocurrency appeared to rebound slightly to bring it past $10,000 as of Monday morning.

It’s unclear what caused the sudden price drop, but it comes just days after Trump took to Twitter to slam cryptocurrencies.

"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 Crytpo Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity," Trump wrote.

He continued by saying Facebook’s Libra "will have little standing or dependability."

"If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National and International," he tweeted. "We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!"

Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 and topped the U.S. dollar for the first time in February 2011. In 2018, following a series of mishaps, bitcoin was in a freefall. However, in 2019 there are signs that bitcoin is rebounding.

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Last month, the price of bitcoin topped $11,000 for the first time in more than a year in wake of the impending launch of Libra.

Fox Business’ Kathleen Joyce contributed to this report.