Speaking at a Heal-the-Divide PAC event, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined specific bitcoin-focused policies he would enact as president, including gradually supporting the US dollar with bitcoin and exempting bitcoin profits from capital gains tax. .
“My plan would be to start very, very small, maybe 1% of treasuries issued would be backed by hard currency, by gold, silver, platinum or bitcoin,” Kennedy said, outlining his vision for a return to a hard currency norm in the United States.
He added that, depending on the outcome of this first stage, he would increase this allocation each year.
This potential policy reinvents the financial system, pointing to a future where bitcoin’s absolute scarcity and sound monetary principles reinforce the US dollar’s eroded position as the world’s reserve currency.
“Backing US debt dollars and bonds with durable assets could help restore the dollar’s strength, curb inflation and usher in a new era of financial stability, peace and prosperity in the United States,” he said.
Additionally, Kennedy announced that his administration “will exempt the conversion of bitcoin to US dollars from capital gains taxes.”
“Benefits include facilitating innovation and stimulating investment, protecting citizens’ privacy, incentivizing companies to expand their technology businesses and jobs in the United States rather than in Singapore, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal,” he added. “Non-taxable events cannot be reported and that means it will be harder for governments to weaponize the currency against free speech, which as many of you know is one of my main goals.”
During his announcement, Kennedy reiterated the myriad of commitments he has made to drive Bitcoin adoption during a speech at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in May, which included “defending bitcoin’s right to self-custody,” upholding “the right to run a node at home,” and championing “industry-neutral energy regulation.”
Kennedy defined his commitments to Bitcoin as integral to the ideals of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his own vision for governing a free and fair 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 option,” Kennedy said. “He understood the relationship between fiat currency and war, fiat currency and … very, very destructive environmental projects, and these giant aggregates of wealth and the imbalance, the disparities of wealth that are the ultimate return of every fiat currency.
Reflecting on the history of fiat currencies, Kennedy didn’t mince words, citing the frequent use of unbacked paper money to fund wars without the need for specific government taxation or citizen approval.
“Fiat money was invented to fund wars,” he said. “I like base currencies because they make it harder, you have to go to the public. You can’t just print money to fund the war and tax the public through the hidden tax of inflation. You actually have to go to the public and say, ‘This is what this war is going to cost.’
He outlined his regulatory view that “bitcoin is not a security and should not be regulated as such” and his commitment to “end the current policies of the Biden administration that are invited by Choke Point 2.0 to punish banks that deal with bitcoins.
Reflecting on the broader implications of these policies, Kennedy alluded to the financial situation the United States currently faces. A stable 6.5% growth rate of public debt over the last decade advocates for comprehensive and forward-looking fiscal strategies from the highest instance. In this context, Kennedy’s proposal for the US Treasury to acquire assets such as bitcoin and precious metals is an approach that aims to offer an insurance policy against the country’s growing debt.
Kennedy’s unwavering belief in bitcoin signals an upcoming political paradigm shift, where bitcoin is seen not just as an asset, but as a prudent political tool to ensure the nation’s fiscal longevity and an opportunity to attract intellectual capital to American shores.
