Independent candidate for U.S. president, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke on stage at Consensus 2024 in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, discussing crypto regulation.
“We need to make sure America remains the hub of blockchain technology. I’m going to make sure cryptocurrency is regulated in a way that protects the consumer from deceptive schemes,” said Kennedy at Consensus 2024.
Kennedy stressed that “transactional freedom” is important. “Sovereignty over our own wallets, transactional freedom, and a currency that is transparent,” is needed.
“I purchased twenty-one bitcoins since I started this campaign. I also bought three coins for each of my kids,” said Kennedy.
Just before Kennedy started speaking on stage, opponent Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Commenting on Trump’s guilty verdict, Kennedy kept it classy.
“I’m going to talk about issues of broader concern. I want to focus on the economic issues and the health issues – that’s what my campaign is about, I’m not going to get dragged into the dirt pile. I don’t have any thoughts. I’ve been very disciplined in not talking about lawsuits against Biden or Trump,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy’s opponent Trump has been actively talking about crypto recently, making his commitment clear.
“I’m happy about that, I think it’s a good thing for our country. Commitment to crypto is a commitment to freedom and transparency. I’m not going to question if it was a political decision, I’m happy he did it and I hope President Biden does too.”
Kennedy Plans to Make Crypto Transactional Currency
If elected Kennedy said he plans to make crypto a transactional currency. Crypto is treated as property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. It is subject to capital gains and income tax.
“I think it [crypto] should be treated as a currency, we shouldn’t be taxing it as capital gains,” said Kennedy.
What Made Kennedy Run for President
At Consensus 2024 Kennedy talked about why he decided to run for President.
“I toyed with getting into politics when I was younger. For two decades I took that off the plate. I saw what happened during COVID and when the Government shut down the economy. I thought it was wrong. The Government shutdown every church, attacked the 5th amendment, shut down business without due process…they shut down jury trials, they violated prohibitions, and I saw this attack on the constitution and censorship, not just to me but so many people who were trying to talk,” aid Kennedy.
” I saw that and it seemed so unethical to my country. All these traditional values for my party and my country were disappearing and I felt I could play a unique role in showing people what Americas supposed to look like.” added Kennedy.