Speaking at a Heal-the-Divide PAC event, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined specific Bitcoin-focused policies he would implement as president, including gradually backing the U.S. dollar with bitcoin and making bitcoin profits exempt from capital gains taxes.
“My plan would be to start very, very small, maybe 1% of the Treasuries issued would be backed by hard currency, gold, silver platinum or bitcoin,” Kennedy said, outlining his vision for the return to a US hard currency benchmark.
He added that, depending on the outcome of that initial step, he would increase that allocation each year.
This potential policy reimagines the financial system, pointing to a future where the absolute absence of bitcoin and sound monetary principles reinforce the US dollar’s eroding position as the world’s reserve currency.
“Backing the dollar and US debt obligations with strong assets can help restore the dollar’s strength, curb inflation and usher in a new era of American financial stability, peace and prosperity,” he declared.
In addition, Kennedy announced that his administration “will exempt the conversion of bitcoins into US dollars from capital gains taxes.”
“Benefits include facilitating innovation and boosting investment, ensuring citizens’ privacy, encouraging entrepreneurs to grow their business and technology jobs in the United States rather than in Singapore, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal,” he added.
During his announcement, Kennedy reiterated a slew of commitments he made to drive Bitcoin adoption during a speech at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in May, which included “protecting bitcoin’s right to self-care,” supporting “the right to run a node at home” and the defense of “energy industry neutral regulation”.
Kennedy framed his commitments to Bitcoin as integral to the ideals of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his vision of governing a free and equal country.
“My uncle, President Kennedy, when he was in office, understood the importance of hard currency and the dangers of having pure fiat currency with no other alternative,” Kennedy said. “He understood the relationship between fiat currency and war, fiat currency and … very, very destructive environmental projects and also these gigantic accumulations of wealth and imbalances, disparities in wealth that are the end product of any fiat currency.”
Reflecting on the history of fiat currencies, Kennedy did not mince words, citing the frequent use of unbacked paper currency to finance wars without the need for special government taxation or citizen approval.
“Fiat money was invented to finance wars,” he said. “I like fiat currencies because they make it harder, you have to go to the public. You can’t print money to finance the war and tax the public through the Hidden Inflation Tax. You actually have to go to the public and say, ‘Here’s how much this war is going to cost.'”
He emphasized his regulatory view that “bitcoin is not a security and should not be regulated as one” and his commitment to “end the current policies of the Biden administration that have been invoked by Choke Point 2.0 to punish banks that have to do with bitcoin”.
Reflecting on the broader implications of these policies, Kennedy alluded to the financial circumstances currently facing the United States. A steady 6.5% growth rate of the national debt over the last decade makes the case for far-sighted and comprehensive fiscal strategy from the highest office. Against this background, Kennedy’s proposal for the US Treasury to buy assets such as bitcoin and precious metals is an approach intended to provide an insurance policy against the country’s rising debt.
Kennedy’s unwavering belief in Bitcoin signals a coming political paradigm shift, where bitcoin is seen not just as an asset, but as a prudent policy tool to ensure the country’s fiscal longevity and an opportunity to attract intellectual capital offshore of the USA.
