Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr condemns Biden administration for its anti-crypto stance

• Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr criticized the Biden administration for proposing 30% tax on miners
• Kennedy accused the administration of using the environmental argument as a pretext to suppress tech like Bitcoin.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the Democratic politician who recently announced that he was running for the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, has voiced his criticism for the anti-crypto policies adopted by regulators and federal agencies under the Biden administration.

As the nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy hails from one of the most popular and influential political families in the United States. 

Kennedy criticizes the proposed 30% tax on crypto miners 

Robert Kennedy Jr took to Twitter on 3 May to criticize the recent actions taken by the current government regarding the country’s crypto industry.

Cryptocurrencies, led by bitcoin, along with other crypto technologies are a major innovation engine. It is a mistake for the U.S. government to hobble the industry and drive innovation elsewhere. Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea. ?

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 3, 2023

The presidential candidate accused the fellow democratic politician of hobbling the crypto industry and driving innovation away from the country. Kennedy Jr. took particular issue with the 30% tax on crypto miners.

The Council of Economic Advisors to the Biden Administration unveiled the tax in question as part of the President’s budget. 

As per the Digital Asset Mining Excise (DAME) Tax, a charge equal to 30% of the cost of the electricity used by crypto mining firms would be levied on them.

The Council pitched the 30% tax as a way of getting crypto miners to “pay their fair share of the costs imposed on local communities and the environment.”

The proposed tax is supposed to help the administration fight climate change and reduce energy prices.

Additionally, the DAME tax will bring in an estimated $3.5 billion in revenue over the next 10 years.  

While Robert Kennedy Jr acknowledged the energy used by Bitcoin miners, he argued that video games use just as much electricity but no one was calling for a ban on them.

He accused the government further of using the environmental argument as a pretext to suppress tech like Bitcoin which threatens elite power structures.

He said:

“Just as a biodiverse ecosystem is a resilient ecosystem, so too will our economy be more resilient if it has a diverse ecology of currencies, not just a single, centrally controlled one.”