RFK Jr. pledges that he would exempt bitcoin profits from capital gains tax

RFK Jr. said his administration would use bitcoin and other assets to stabilize the U.S. dollar and exempt bitcoin profits from capital gains tax.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Heal-the-Divide PAC event, the U.S. presidential candidate said his administration would "begin to back the U.S. dollar with real finite assets, such as gold, silver, plantinum and bitcoin, which would be done to strengthen the U.S. dollar and continue to guarantee its success as a world reserve currency."

Kennedy explained the process would be gradual and, depending on the plan’s success, he would adjust the amount of backing for the dollar. “My plan would be to start very, very small, perhaps 1% of issued T-bills would be backed by hard currency, by gold, silver platinum or bitcoin,” he added.

Kennedy said backing dollars and U.S. debt obligations with hard assets could help restore strength back to the dollar and rein in inflation. "Ironically we will be able to use bitcoin to save the U.S. dollar," he added.

He said the Kennedy administration would encourage the proliferation and propagation of bitcoin and protect self custody. Reiterating on a promise he made at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami, he said, "Your wallet should be your own, and we will ensure the capacity of American people to run bitcoin nodes inside their own homes."

Bitcoin to dollar conversion exempt from CGT

In addition, Kennedy announced he would exempt the conversion of bitcoin to the U.S. dollar from capital gains taxes.

He said such an exemption would spur investment and incentivize ventures to grow their business in the U.S. instead of other crypto-friendly jurisdictions such as Singapore or Switzerland.

He suggested that making bitcoin conversion a non-taxable events would promote innovation, protect privacy, and make it harder for governments to use currency against free speech. He noted, "Non-taxable events are unreportable and that means it will be more difficult for governments to weaponize currency against free speech, which as many of you know, is one of my principal objectives."