US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said he wants to put “the entire US budget” on the blockchain so Americans can inspect it at any time, The Hill reported on 22 april.
Kennedy said putting the data on a blockchain would make the budget available “24 hours a day.”
Making budget data available on-chain could increase public scrutiny by making government spending public beyond current budget plans and reports. To emphasize the need for public oversight, Kennedy cited past controversies over the Pentagon’s costly upgrades to military toilets, saying:
“If someone spends $16,000 on a toilet seat, everyone will know.”
The Hill reported that Kennedy made the comment at a rally in Michigan. Kennedy’s website identified his only event in Michigan on April 21 as “A Night of Laughs with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Friends” — a fundraising event for the campaign.
Kennedy’s Other Crypto Efforts
Kennedy is known for his pro-crypto stance, including an independent campaign platform with permissive crypto policies.
In a 2023 interview with the New York Post, he described policies designed to protect individuals’ rights to “wallets, nodes and passwords” combined with minimal anti-money laundering controls.
He also advanced more complex goals. In July 2023, he proposed partially collateralizing the US dollar and US debt obligations with Bitcoin. He also proposed exempting Bitcoin from capital gains tax. It is unclear whether its goals are viable.
Kennedy began accepting Bitcoin donations during his campaign in May 2023. His own BTC investments were also revealed that summer.
Kennedy condemned various existing policies, including the 30% tax on crypto mining proposed by the Biden administration. He also suggested that the US government’s FedNow payment system could lead to a ban on Bitcoin.