Bitcoin down 10% after Trump calls it 'scam' against dollar

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The price of Bitcoin was down 10% on Tuesday after former US President Donald Trump called it a "scam" against American dollar.

"Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam," Trump told Fox Business. "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."

He also called on US watchdogs to take action and said cryptocurrencies should be monitored closely and regulated highly.

This is the second time Trump talked about the world's top digital currency after he had said he was "not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies" in 2019, after Bitcoin had fallen from $20,000 to $6,000 in first half of 2018.

After climbing to an all-time high of $64,000 in mid-April, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap has since lost almost half of its value, trading around $33,000 at 6 p.m EDT (1000 GMT).