Bitcoin Falls after Jerome Powell Expresses Concern over Facebook’s Libra

Bitcoin has seen some big gains this year, with the cryptocurrency popping significantly after Facebook announced its new cryptocurrency Libra.

This week however Bitcoin as well as other major cryptocurrencies saw a drop after U.S. Federal Reserve Jerome Powell said Facebook’s proposed digital currency Libra raised “serious concerns” and will need intense scrutiny.

Bitcoin saw a drop of over 12% as investors digested Powell’s comments. Ethereum dropped 13.1% and Litecoin dropped 17.8%.

The Fed chair said he has “serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability” that will need to be “thoroughly and publicly addressed” before Facebook can go forward with the project.

“We just want it to take place in a safe and sound way,” said Powell.

Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the U.S. House committee, had also expresed her concerns and said that Facebook could be looking to “establish a parallel banking and monetary policy system to rival the dollar.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ: FB) have not been compensated for this article.