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 transform the United States into the world’s largest holder of Bitcoin. 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 aimed at redefining monetary policy and enhancing fiscal discipline within the federal government.
Kennedy Jr. Vs. Donald Trump
During a roundtable discussion with 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 governmental integrity. “This is more than about increasing the size of your pile,” Kennedy Jr. said, underlining Bitcoin’s potential to enhance self-sovereignty and counteract what he describes as a “destructive war economy” driven by fiat currency.
“Bitcoin is not only an offramp to this inflationary highway which is the highway to hell, but it also is a way of restoring integrity to our government. It’s a way of restoring personal freedoms, it’s a way the middle class can isolate itself from inflation which is just a form of government theft,” the independent candidate stated.
Kennedy Jr. drew a contrast between his consistent advocacy for Bitcoin and therecent supportive gestures from former President Donald Trump, who will speak at the conference on Saturday. Kennedy pointed out Trump’s prior skepticism and his recent controversial decision to potentially appoint JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon as Treasury Secretary, which Kennedy criticized as contrary to the ethos of draining the political “swamp.”
He added, “President Trump also was connected with Steve Mnuchin who tried to end person-to-person Bitcoin transactions,” emphasizing the need for a cautious approach towards Trump’s newfound enthusiasm for Bitcoin.
Moreover, Kennedy Jr. detailed his plan to incrementally integrate Bitcoin into the US treasury. Starting with the issuance of treasury bills anchored to a basket of hard currencies—including platinum and gold—Kennedy proposed a phased approach that would begin with 1% of new treasury issuances backed by these hard assets, scaling up to 100% over time.
US Would Need To Buy $619 Billion In Bitcoin
“I would be willing to add Bitcoin to the balance sheet. I’m going to do that. I’m gonna actually do a basket of hard currencies of maybe platinum and gold and other hard currencies and begin issuing at least the class of treasury bills that are anchored to hard currency. Let’s say the first year by 1% and then maybe the next year by 2% to watch how that goes because that will inject discipline into the product and ultimately get up to 100%,” Kennedy Jr. explained.
Notably, his strategy would involve direct purchases of Bitcoin to achieve holdings equivalent to the US gold reserves. “I would like to have the federal government begin to buy Bitcoin and over the term my term of office ultimately have an equivalent amount of Bitcoin that we have gold. Because Bitcoin is an honest currency, it’s a currency that’s based upon proof of work,” he declared.
According to data by Arkham, the US government currently holds 213,239 BTC worth $14.3 billion confiscated through law enforcement. That means, even if Kennedy would transfer all of these into a strategic reserve, the US would need to buy much more BTC at current prices.
The US 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 would require purchasing about 9.4 million BTC. This acquisition would represent nearly 45% of the total 21 million BTC that will ever be mined.
For perspective, MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, owns 226,331 BTC, and BlackRock, the largest spot Bitcoin ETF manager, controls 334,000 BTC.
At press time, BTC traded at $66,976.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com