Robert Kennedy Jr. condemns Biden’s proposed 30% Bitcoin mining tax
Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on May 3rd condemned a 30% crypto mining tax proposed by the Biden administration and responded to concerns about crypto.
Kennedy says crypto regulation is a power grab
Kennedy, who is running in the 2024 US presidential election, said in a thread on Twitter:
“Cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin, along with other cryptotechnologies are a major engine of innovation … Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea.”
Kennedy argued that proposals for cryptocurrency and cryptomining controls are politically motivated. He called arguments surrounding Bitcoin’s high energy consumption a “selective pretext” to control threats to elite power structures.
He further argued that the US economy will be more resilient if Bitcoin and many other currencies are available alongside the US dollar.
The Biden administration’s plan to impose a 30% mining tax was previously reported on May 2. The possible tax was also discussed in a tax plan in March.
RFK Jr. claims gaming is as demanding as mining
Kennedy admitted that energy consumption involved in Bitcoin mining is a “concern”. However, he argued that mining uses about the same amount of energy as video games do, noting that games do not face regulatory requirements.
Kennedy did not say where he obtained this data. However, one possible source is a 2020 estimate from mining group Braiins, which suggests that video games use 104.7 TWh of energy per year globally. In contrast, data from Cambridge University suggests that Bitcoin mining currently uses a total of 131.53 TWh of energy per year.
Kennedy questions Bitcoin’s use in crime
Kennedy also argued that Bitcoin is not only used by “criminals who want privacy”, contrary to some critics. He said political dissidents and ordinary citizens may also have a need to use Bitcoin as governments can control bank accounts and payments.
His claim about crime is supported by some statistics. Data from Elliptic suggests that less than 5% of all crypto transactions have been related to crime since 2016.
However, other studies suggest that 46% of Bitcoin transactions were used in illegal activity as recently as 2018. As such, the true amount of crypto-related crime is unknown.
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