Pro-Crypto Advocate RFK Jr. Shifts to Independent Presidential Campaign – What Does That Mean for The Industry?

Bitcoin-bullish presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that he is now chasing his country’s highest office as an independent, rather than as a member of the Democratic party.

“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate for the President of the United States,” said Kennedy at a Philadelphia rally on Monday. “We declare independence from the two political parties and the corrupt interests that dominate them and the entire rigged system.”

As of last month, Kennedy polled second place in the Democratic party primary but was still dominated by the incumbent president Joe Biden’s whopping 71% support.

Compared to other Democratic candidates, Kennedy frequently drew controversy for holding positions atypical for a left-winger, including his well-known skepticism of vaccines, but also his lesser-known favorable views on crypto – particularly Bitcoin.

At the Bitcoin Miami in May, Kennedy recognized that Bitcoin miners “may not be so bad for the environment,” contrasting with the current administration’s stronger concern for the “harms they impose on society.” At the time, Kennedy announced that his campaign would be the first to accept Bitcoin donations over the lightning network.

The politician has also purchased several BTC for his children, and promised to exempt Bitcoin investors from capital gains taxes in a bit to boost national adoption of the digital currency. He’s even proposed backing the U.S. dollar with Bitcoin, alongside a handful of other “hard currencies” like gold and silver.

Presidential Candidates On Crypto

Kennedy’s crypto positions may be more comparable to Republican rivals like Ron DeSantis, who have promised to end President Biden’s “war on Bitcoin.” Both candidates have also shown strong opposition to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), deeming them tools of surveillance and financial control.

Nevertheless, such crypto proponents face bleak odds in the Republican camp as well, with ex-President Donald Trump leading polls with 60% of the primary vote. Though Trump has previously denounced Bitcoin as a scam and claimed it could threaten the supremacy of the U.S. dollar, filings in August revealed that Trump owned $2.8 million in crypto.

After teasing his break from Democrats for several days, Super PAC American Values 2024 shared poll results last week showing that Kennedy would be more popular than any independent candidate in modern political history, boasting support from 19% of the electorate.