Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has confirmed that he owns a substantial amount of Bitcoin—after saying he doesn’t, and after the crypto was initially attributed to his wife. However, this is not a conflict of interest, according to his campaign.
Kennedy praised Bitcoin during a keynote address at Bitcoin 2023 in Miami in May, and said the network should nurtured and protected. He also said his campaign will accept Bitcoin donations. But he is too told the conference-goers that he is not an investor in Bitcoin, and that his endorsement of the asset does not amount to investment advice.
However, a financial DISCLOSURE got to CNBC showed the Kennedy family held between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of Bitcoin in a brokerage account as of June 30. The filing, which did not say when the investment took place, said the family’s income by Kennedy from the purchase of less than $201.
Kennedy’s campaign manager, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, SPOKE CNBC that a conflict of interest does not exist, and the purchase took place after Kennedy’s positive words about Bitcoin in Miami.
After the release of the report, the Kennedy campaign spoke first CNBC Bitcoin belongs to Kennedy’s wife Cheryl Hines, who is known for her work on the television show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” A representative from Kennedy’s campaign later said they were mistaken, and that the Bitcoin investment actually belonged to Kennedy.
On the Democratic side of the aisle, Kennedy is a strong supporter of Bitcoin among the candidates, while Republican optimists like the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy also tried to court the Bitcoin vote.
While Kennedy’s comments on Bitcoin have become less frequent since the Miami-topic never came during his extensive one-on-one with Twitter owner Elon Musk last month-Kennedy continued to tweet his support for the oldest crypto coin, occasionally.
“Bitcoin is not only a bulwark against totalitarianism and the manipulation of our money supply, it points the way to a future where government institutions are more transparent and more democratic,” he said on June 27.
Kennedy has attracted support from several prominent members of the crypto community, including Block CEO Jack Dorsey, who said last month that Kennedy “can and will” beat DeSantis or Donald Trump at the ballot box.
For that to happen, Kennedy must first win against President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primaries. A new one poll from Echelon Insights shows that 65% of voters will stick with Biden as opposed to 14% who will choose Kennedy.
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