Crypto, especially Bitcoin, is a crucial tool against governmental overreach and financial enslavement, says US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a fireside chat at ETHDenver 2024 with Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodian Bank.
Kennedy’s advocacy for crypto was sparked by the Canadian government’s financial targeting of truckers during the “Freedom Convoy” protests against COVID-19 restrictions. He equates transactional freedom to freedom of expression, arguing that without financial autonomy, civil liberties are at risk.
“It occurred to me at that point that if a government has a right to shut down your bank account, then they have the capacity to enslave us – to commit any kind of atrocity.” Kennedy noted. “…transactional freedom was as important to a free society as the guarantees of freedom of expression. As the First Amendment means nothing if the government has the right to shut down your bank account and to starve you to death if it doesn’t agree with your speech. And that’s when I started getting interested in cryptocurrencies and alternative currencies.”
Kennedy points out that crypto, notably Bitcoin, is a hedge against inflation. This perspective stems from his broader critique of the Federal Reserve and the current banking system, which he argues disproportionately benefits a wealthy elite at the expense of the general population.
“The more I learned about cryptocurrency, the more important it occurred to me: this is the off-ramp for our addiction to the Fed, to the printing of money, to the monopolistic banking system,” said Kennedy.
According to him, despite initial difficulties in investing in crypto due to regulatory hurdles, the debut of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US opened the market to a broader audience, thereby enhancing the currency’s value discovery and overall market growth. He pledged that as President he would make the US “the hub of cryptocurrency, blockchain and stablecoin innovation.”
Kennedy aims to remove the current tax treatment of Bitcoin, which categorizes it as a security if he is elected president.
“I want to end the taxation of Bitcoin which is now taxed as a security,” Kennedy asserted.
However, Kennedy expressed concerns about creating benefits for large institutions through the removal of capital gains taxes on all Bitcoin transactions. His goal is tax exemptions on small crypto purchases to promote the everyday use of crypto without the burden of taxation.
“…small transactions of all cryptocurrency should be untaxed. You should be able to buy an apple, a beer or an automobile using crypto without having a tax for the value that it’s accrued since you purchased it. And so those are some of the things that I’m going to do to free up transactional freedom,” Kennedy added.
In the US, Bitcoin is subject to taxation as property when held as a capital asset. Any gains or losses from the sale or exchange of Bitcoin are treated as capital gains or losses for tax purposes. If you hold Bitcoin for over a year, you may be eligible for tax-preferred long-term capital gains, which are taxed at up to 20%, according to The Motley Fool.
In addition to dropping taxes on Bitcoin, Kennedy’s plans include making US banks crypto-friendly and stop the crackdown on banks working with crypto.
RFK Jr. is a pro-crypto presidential candidate. He announced at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami his decision to accept political campaign donations in Bitcoin. Kennedy also disclosed an investment of over $250,000 in Bitcoin.
