In a briefing at the White House, Mr. Mnuchin said cryptocurrencies posed a national security threat because they can be used to fund illicit activities. He also said that the Trump administration was “not comfortable” with Facebook’s plans to begin a digital payment system, called Libra. The warnings come after similar comments by President Trump, who said in a series of Twitter posts last week that he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies and that their value was volatile and “based on thin air.” Mr. Trump warned Facebook that it must seek a banking charter and follow all bank regulations if it wants to be in the digital currency business. This week, the House and Senate will hold hearings to examine Libra, and lawmakers plan to grill David Marcus, the Facebook executive who is overseeing the project. Facebook was asked to cease work on the project until it addresses lawmakers’ concerns.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/politics/mnuchin-facebook-libra-risk.html