President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday banning any transactions within the United States involving any digital currency issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela.

The order applies to U.S. citizens as well as anyone within the United States, and includes cryptocurrency issued on or after January 9.

President Trump's order is in response to recent attempts by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime to "circumvent U.S. sanctions by issuing a digital currency," the White House said in a statement.

Venezuela launched its oil-backed cryptocurrency in February to help pull the country out of a continuing economic crisis. President Maduro said each petro token will be backed by one barrel of the state's national petroleum. Maduro also said roughly 100 million tokens would be issued — estimated to be worth around $6 billion.

Bitcoin prices dropped about $200 to around $8,388, according to Coinbase, following the order.

Bitcoin's price following U.S. executive order

Source: Coinbase

This is the latest move by the Trump administration to restrict the Maduro regime's access to capital.

President Trump signed an executive order in August to impose financial sanctions against Venezuela. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at a news briefing following the announcement that Venezula "can no longer take advantage of the American financial system to facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy at the expense of the Venezuelan people."

The U.S. president has also said he would not rule out a "military option" in Venezuela as the Maduro regime consolidates power.

"We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary," Trump told reporters in August.

Cryptocurrencies have come under scrutiny by the U.S. Treasury Department for their potential for nefarious uses.

"My No. 1 focus on cryptocurrencies, whether that be digital currencies or bitcoin or other things, is that we want to make sure that they're not used for illicit activities," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC in January. "So in the U.S., our regulations [state that] if you're a bitcoin wallet, you're subject to the same regulations as a bank."

The Trump administration said in December that North Korea was behind the WannaCry hack earlier this year, demanding ransom in bitcoin, adding to concerns that the country could use cryptocurrency to fund future attacks.

Read the full Executive Order below: