During the industry day of the annual bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Robert Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate for the US presidency, unveiled an ambitious financial policy plan that could make the US the largest holder of bitcoin in the world. The policy centers on the strategic acquisition of bitcoin, valued at $619 billion, to match the current US gold reserves. This move, according to Kennedy Jr., is intended to redefine monetary policy and improve fiscal discipline within the federal government.
Kennedy Jr. vs. Donald Trump
During a round table discussion Alongside Scott Melker and Caitlyn Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, Kennedy Jr. emphasized the philosophical alignment between his policies and the bitcoin community’s ideals of personal freedom, property rights, and government integrity. “This is about more than increasing the size of your stack,” Kennedy Jr. said, underscoring bitcoin’s potential to enhance self-sovereignty and counter what he describes as a “destructive war economy” driven by fiat currency.
“bitcoin is not only a way out of this inflationary highway that is the highway to hell, but it is also a way to restore the integrity of our government. It is a way to restore personal freedoms, it is a way for the middle class to insulate themselves from inflation that is just a form of government theft,” said the independent candidate.
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Kennedy Jr. drew a contrast between his consistent advocacy for bitcoin and recent gestures of support from former President Donald Trump, who will speak at the conference on Saturday. Kennedy highlighted Trump’s previous skepticism and his recent controversial decision to name JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon as Treasury secretary, which Kennedy criticized as being contrary to the spirit of draining the political “swamp.”
He added that “President Trump was also connected to Steve Mnuchin, who attempted to put an end to person-to-person bitcoin transactions,” emphasizing the need for a cautious approach toward Trump’s newfound enthusiasm for bitcoin.
Additionally, Kennedy Jr. detailed his plan to gradually integrate bitcoin into the U.S. Treasury. Beginning with the issuance of Treasury bills pegged to a basket of hard currencies, including platinum and gold, Kennedy proposed a phased approach that would start with 1% of new Treasury issuance backed by these hard assets, increasing to 100% over time.
The United States would need to buy $619 billion in bitcoins
“I would be willing to add bitcoin to the balance sheet. I’m going to do that. I’m actually going to create a basket of hard currencies, maybe platinum and gold and other hard currencies, and I’ll start issuing at least the kind of Treasury bills that are pegged to hard currency. Let’s say the first year 1% and then maybe the following year 2% to see how that goes because that will inject discipline into the product and ultimately I’ll get to 100%,” Kennedy Jr. explained.
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It is worth noting that his strategy would involve direct purchases of bitcoin to reach holdings equivalent to the gold reserves of the United States. “I would like the federal government to start buying bitcoin and, during my term, we would eventually have an amount of bitcoin equivalent to the amount of gold we have. Because bitcoin is an honest currency, it is a currency that is based on proof of work,” he stated.
According data According to Arkham, the US government currently holds 213,239 btc worth $14.3 billion seized by law enforcement. That means that even if Kennedy were to transfer all of these to a strategic reserve, the US would need to purchase a lot more btc at current prices.
The United States currently holds the largest official gold reserves in the world, with 8,134 tons of gold valued at approximately $619 billion. To match this value with bitcoin at current prices, it would be necessary to purchase about 9.4 million btc. This acquisition would represent almost 45% of the total 21 million btc that will be mined in the future.
To put this into perspective, MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, holds 226,331 btc, and BlackRock, the largest bitcoin spot ETF manager, controls 334,000 btc.
At the time of writing, btc was trading at $66,976.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
