RFK Jr. elaborates position on CBDC, crypto: ‘It isn’t just criminals who want privacy’

The U.S. presidential candidate has added anti-CBDC to his anti-establishment, anti-vaccination repertoire and has gained double-digit support among Democrats.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is challenging United States President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has taken to Twitter again to share more of his thoughts on cryptocurrency.

Kennedy criticized Biden on May 2 for calling the U.S. banking system “safe and sound” the previous day. “Today, bank stocks are crashing. The American people deserve more than glib assurances and perception management,” he tweeted.

On May 3, Kennedy condemned the Biden administration’s proposed tax on crypto mining. An environmental lawyer, Kennedy called the proposed 30% tax on energy used by crypto miners “a bad idea.” He said mining’s energy use was “a concern (though somewhat overstated),” and continued:

“The environmental argument is a selective pretext to suppress anything that threatens elite power structures. Bitcoin, for example.”

Jumping to “control” of cryptocurrency, Kennedy found more anti-establishment fodder. “It isn’t just criminals who want privacy,” he said. “Governments harass their enemies and crush dissent by controlling bank accounts and payment platforms.”

Related: Bitcoin at the barricades: Ottawa, Ukraine and beyond

Kennedy developed the theme of financial control further the following day with a look back at the Canadian truckers’ anti-vaccination protests in Ottawa in 2022. The Canadian government locked the bank accounts of people supporting the protesters. Kennedy said:

“It’s not outlandish to imagine that even here in America, your bank account could one day be frozen because of your politics, or comments you’ve made on social media.”

After all, he said, GoFundMe blocked U.S. accounts supporting the Canadian truckers and redirected donations to them. Meanwhile, Paypal imposed fines on users for spreading “what they deemed to be misinformation.” Both of those decisions were successfully challenged in court, but Kennedy saw the hand of big government behind them anyway. “Often those private companies are acting out of fear of Congress or regulators, or directly at their bidding,” he claimed.

Please learn the difference, RFK Jr. ✌️https://t.co/Y5EHShNPFA

— Wicked (@w_s_bitcoin) May 3, 2023

“That is why I oppose CBDCs [central bank digital currencies], which will vastly magnify the government’s power to suffocate dissent by cutting off access to funds with a keystroke,” Kennedy concluded.

Kennedy first voiced his opposition to CBDCs in a somewhat confused tweet relating to the FedNow instant payment system.

I am voting for whomever is procrypto

if anyone is offended by this it means you hate liberty, entrepreneurism, small businesses and the underdogs

— Wendy O (@CryptoWendyO) May 3, 2023

According to CNN on April 29, Kennedy has 19% support among Democrats. He shares his distrust of CBDCs with several Republican politicians, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seen as a possible challenger to candidate Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.

In addition to Kennedy, writer Marianne Williamson has declared her intention to challenge Biden for the U.S. presidency. She implied dismay at the Canadian government’s blocking of bank accounts and crypto wallets in a tweet at the time and holds that “our government has become a handmaiden to a new corporate order,” but does not mention cryptocurrency on her campaign website.

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