Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is issuing a warning about central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and the threat they pose to financial freedoms. In a new interview with Peter McCormack on the What Bitcoin Did podcast, Kennedy says that CBDCs could take away personal freedoms by allowing governments to track every aspect of someone’s […]
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There are currently many from the Democratic and Republican parties bidding for the job of president. Here's what they’ve said about crypto.
In late 2024, citizens of the United States will take to the voting booths to elect their next president — a four-year term that could have a vast impact on the next crypto bull run.
Though polls are set to open on Nov. 5, 2024, dozens of U.S. politicians have already signaled an intention to contest President Joe Biden for the country’s top position.
The current Biden administration appears to have been taking an increasingly anti-crypto stance. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump is again bidding for the job — setting the stage for a rematch. Others are seeking to carry the Democrat and Republican presidential nominations.
The current president of the United States, Joe Biden, kicked off his re-election bid on April 25, and is at the moment, the likely favorite for the Democrat’s presidential nominee.
Biden’s attitude toward crypto is possibly best summarized by his 2023 Economic Report of the President which included a section on crypto for the first time since it began in 1950.
The section aimed to debunk the “Perceived Appeal of Crypto Assets.” It argued crypto doesn’t deliver on “touted” benefits and claimed “many of them have no fundamental value.”
Biden has rallied against perceived crypto “tax loopholes” and even opposed a debt ceiling agreement with Republicans as he claimed it protected “wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders.”
We don’t have to guess what MAGA House Republicans value. They’re telling us. pic.twitter.com/BM6JGMEFeq
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 9, 2023
His March 2022 executive order culminated with the first framework for crypto. He’s called for a 30% tax on crypto mining electricity usage, doubling capital gains taxes and cracking down on crypto wash sales.
The former president turned NFT salesman Trump threw in his non-consecutive re-election bid on Nov. 15, 2022. According to current polling, he’s the favored Republican nominee.
Trump has said crypto “may be fake” and is “a disaster waiting to happen.” He’s also said Bitcoin (BTC) “just seems like a scam” and didn’t like it “because it is another currency competing against the dollar.”
In July 2019 as president, Trump tweeted he was “not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies” claiming their value was “based on thin air.”
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
During his presidency, Trump targeted crypto use in financial crimes and purportedly told his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after Bitcoin” in a conversation on trade sanctions against China. “Cryptocurrencies” were mentioned in his 2021 budget proposal but only for explaining their use in crimes.
He did, however, mull a capital gains tax cut which could have been favorable to crypto users. Trump administration officials did once tout distributed ledger technology (DLT) as a tech that could benefit government operations and bolster the country’s cybersecurity defenses.
Ron DeSantis said he would “protect” Bitcoin in his May 24 presidential bid announcement on Twitter. Polls taken before the Florida governor's announcement have him second favorite to Trump.
During his Twitter Space campaign kick-off, DeSantis said “You have every right to do Bitcoin” and would “protect the ability to do things like Bitcoin.”
He called out Congress, claiming it “never addressed” crypto and said regulators had made it so “that people can not operate in that space.”
Will you require any presidential candidate to support your right to #Bitcoin before they can earn your vote?
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) May 27, 2023
His 2022–2023 budget proposal for the state of Florida proposed the government allows businesses to pay state fees with cryptocurrencies.
DeSantis is probably better known as an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) figure.
He passed laws in Florida prohibiting the use of a federal CBDC as money and banned the use of foreign CBDCs. He’s also rallied against the Federal Reserve’s FedNow 24/7 instant payments system, claiming it's a CBDC precursor.
Pharmaceutical firm founder Vivek Ramaswamy has also signaled a pro-crypto stance but is considered a long shot for the Republican nomination.
In mid-May, Ramaswamy tweeted “Bitcoin should not be regulated as a security.” At the Bitcoin 2023 conference, he announced he would accept campaign donations in Bitcoin.
Competition breeds innovation. Bitcoin should not be regulated as a security. Will explain more at the @TheBitcoinConf on Saturday. @Bitcoin #Bitcoin #Bitcoin2023 pic.twitter.com/CtMPxIwsMR
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 17, 2023
At the conference, Ramaswamy reaffirmed Bitcoin should not be considered a security, saying “We need to keep it that way.”
Related: New White House standards strategy could have implications for crypto industry KYC
“Bitcoin is finite in its quantity, there is no issuer. It should never have been treated as a security under the current securities laws,” he said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr is seen as unlikely to be put forward by the Democrats for president — but he has signaled pro-crypto stances.
Earlier in May he said “crypto technologies are a major innovation engine" and called Bitcoin a “symbol of democracy and freedom” in a speech at the Bitcoin 2023 conference.
He is accepting BTC for campaign donations, the first presidential candidate to ever do so.
Cryptocurrencies, led by bitcoin, along with other crypto technologies are a major innovation engine. It is a mistake for the U.S. government to hobble the industry and drive innovation elsewhere. Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 3, 2023
Kennedy called Biden’s proposed 30% crypto miner energy tax “a bad idea” and opposes CBDCs as they “vastly magnify the government’s power.” He opposes the Fed’s FedNow system for a similar reason.
The third favorite declared Republican candidate Nikki Haley hasn’t publicly addressed her views on crypto.
Democratic nominee Marianne Willamson hasn’t either but has implied disappointment at the Canadian government blocking crypto wallets during the trucker protests in 2022.
Canada, are you okay…? https://t.co/6vi1B3qBbq
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) February 18, 2022
Republican Senator Tim Scott is also a bidder and similarly has no stated crypto policies. He did, however, have plans to develop a crypto “bipartisan regulatory framework.”
He’s been critical of the securities regulator’s handling of FTX and questioned if they’ve been “asleep at the wheel.”
Cointelegraph contacted the campaigns of Haley, Williamson and Scott to clarify their positions on crypto but did not receive a response.
Magazine: Crypto regulation — Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
It is the first political campaign in U.S. history to accept Bitcoin donations.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) will be the first presidential candidate in United States history to accept campaign donations with Bitcoin, making his first appearance as a presidential candidate at the crypto conference. He praised the cryptocurrency as a "symbol of democracy and freedom" during the event.
"Today we show the world the power and the durability and the flexibility of Bitcoin. [...] Almost everyone in this room is aware of the link between Bitcoin and democracy and freedom. [...] They're passionate because of the deep representation of a deep need that we have for liberty and democracy, and the promise that this innovation has to guarantee those virtues."
The candidate — who is challenging Joe Biden — has been sharing his libertarian views about cryptocurrencies on Twitter. In a post on May 3, RFK stated that "crypto technologies are a major innovation engine," adding that the United States is hobbling the industry and driving "innovation elsewhere."
By attending the Bitcoin event RFK is not only targeting voters, but also a potential source of millions of dollars in donations. During last year's midterm elections, Sam Bankman Fried, former CEO of now-bankrupted crypto exchange FTX, donated $40 million in support of candidates. Crypto exchange Coinbase has also been actively lobbying for legislation regulating the crypto space in the country.
RFK's increased commitment to cryptocurrencies coincides with a tight regulatory environment in the United States spreading uncertainty among players and harming an already battered industry.
The candidate believes the United States economy could be more resilient if it has a diverse ecosystem of currencies:
"Just as a biodiverse ecosystem is a resilient ecosystem, so too will our economy be more resilient if it has a diverse ecology of currencies, not just a single, centrally controlled one. We are seeing today how fragile our over-centralized system is."
Magazine: Crypto regulation — Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
U.S. Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has warned that “the banking collapse is the tip of an economic mega-crisis,” emphasizing that “It’s not just the banks.” He also slammed President Joe Biden’s crypto mining tax proposal. “It is a mistake for the U.S. government to hobble the industry and drive innovation elsewhere,” Kennedy stressed. […]