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- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strongly opposes CBDC implementation, highlighting privacy risks.
- He promises to preserve physical cash and enhances Bitcoin’s superior protection from government control.
In a brave gesture in his election campaign, U.S. presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to obstruct U.S. efforts to establish a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Dr. Joseph @Mercola and I discuss financial freedom in the 21st century. As president, I will end the efforts to move toward a CBDC. #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/gao3D1HAeM
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) January 24, 2024
During a recent media address, Kennedy articulated his privacy and civil rights concerns regarding CBDC, arguing that this initiative would give the government exhaustive and detailed knowledge of all citizen transactions, potentially leading to coercion or manipulation.
This candidate, distinguished for being the pioneer in accepting Bitcoin for campaign financing, shares his resistance against CBDC in the United States with his adversary, Donald Trump. In a one-minute recording posted on his X profile, the presidential candidate characterized CBDC as “a catastrophe for human and civil liberties”, pointing to the example of the Chinese digital yuan, linked to a social credit regime that allows the Chinese government to restrict access to individual funds upon any detection of infringement.
A Chainalysis report, issued in 2023, had already raised concerns about the privacy of Chinese citizens in relation to the digital yuan, positing that China could integrate the financial data generated by its digital currency with other relevant data by including it in its social credit system.
Kennedy has vowed to stop “attempts to progress toward a CBDC” should he achieve the presidency, and has stated his determination to preserve the use of physical cash. However, he stressed that Bitcoin provides superior protection compared to conventional cash.
Donald Trump, another presidential contender, has twice vowed to prevent the establishment of a CBDC in the United States. Despite his previous criticism of Bitcoin during his term in office, his former GOP competitors, Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have taken pro-cryptocurrency and anti-CBDC stances in their own campaigns, backing Trump after withdrawing from the race.
Kennedy, who left the Democratic Party in October 2023, is still striving to get on state ballots as an independent, which requires him to have a smaller number of voter signatures than as a partisan candidate. In January 2024, he was receptive to the idea of running as a Libertarian Party candidate.
