Robert F. Kennedy junior ('RFK Jr.', 1954) is a 2024 Democratic Party presidential candidate who is pro Bitcoin and crypto. Like many politicians who challenge the incumbents, he presents himself as anti establishment and defends civil liberties like free speech. Let's investigate his views on crypto and his chances to win. 

RFK Jr., nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, is an environmental lawyer and 'Kennedy democrat'. He summarizes his political goal as "to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power". This resonates with Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts, as does his staunch defense of free speech. 

He promises to dismantle the 'censorship-industrial complex', in which social media platforms ban or shadow ban people if the government asks them to (RFK Jr. was banned from Instagram in 2021, for spreading alleged misinformation about covid vaccines). 

RFK Jr. is opposed to central bank digital currencies. Referring to the frozen bank accounts of Canadian citizens who took part in or were supportive of the trucker's protests in 2022, he wrote: 

“It’s not outlandish to imagine that even here in America, your bank account could one day be frozen because of your politics, or comments you’ve made on social media.” 

He also condemns the recently proposed 30% electricity tax for Bitcoin miners:

“The environmental argument is a selective pretext to suppress anything that threatens elite power structures. Bitcoin, for example.”

RFK Jr.'s chances

RFK Jr. is gaining support among democratic voters. A recent poll showed he has 17% of the democratic voters behind him, as opposed to 65% for Biden. In other words, it will likely be tough to beat the sitting President. Kennedy's anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown stance will probably be used against him, and he might be painted as a conspiracy theorist.

Still, it's encouraging that crypto is becoming an issue in politics, with pro-crypto politicians speaking out. 

Some other prominent pro crypto politicians

It appears that the majority of politicians that are pro-crypto are on the right end of the political spectrum. Most left-wing politicians seem to lean anti-crypto. Perhaps because it threatens the power of the state, and because crypto is sometimes seen as yet another money grab from the rich. Environmental misinformation ('Bitcoin will boil the oceans') adds fuel to the fire. 

Here's a short list of some pro-crypto politicians across the world. 

• Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, made Bitcoin legal tender.
• Andrew Yang, US Democratic candidate in 2020. Conducted a keynote at the SALT conference entitled How Governments Can Empower the People with Crypto.
• A number of American (mostly) Republican congressmen and women, including Cynthia Lummis, Warren Davidson, and senator Ted Cruz.
• Pierre Poilievre, Canadian leader of the Conservative Party: opposes the central banking system, sees crypto as a solution to give people back control over their money.