Impartial presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) has obtained solely $61,000 in Bitcoin donations since 2023, in response to an evaluation by blockchain analytical platform Breadcrumbs.
This determine is modest in comparison with Kennedy’s general fundraising success. Based on OpenSecrets knowledge, his 2024 marketing campaign has raised over $100 million.
Monitoring challenges
The Federal Election Fee (FEC) data present that the $61,000 in Bitcoin donations was collected between June and September 2023. Since October 1, 2023, the marketing campaign has stopped reporting Bitcoin donations, which may point out both a lower in Bitcoin contributions or a change in reporting strategies.
The Breadcrumbs evaluation defined that Kennedy’s marketing campaign makes use of OpenNode to course of Bitcoin through the Lightning Community, which operates off-chain and complicates transparency.
Moreover, the marketing campaign employs a number of stealth Bitcoin addresses, which create a brand new tackle for every donation, additional obscuring the entire quantity of donations.
The agency concluded:
“BTC donation knowledge has been tough to seek out because it has not been transparently reported by his marketing campaign.”
In the meantime, the entire quantity of Bitcoin donations could also be greater, particularly contemplating potential contributions obtained on the current Bitcoin Convention.
Professional-Bitcoin
Regardless of the restricted Bitcoin contributions, RFK Jr. stays a staunch supporter of the flagship digital asset. He was the primary US presidential candidate to just accept Bitcoin donations final yr and has strongly advocated for pro-crypto insurance policies throughout his marketing campaign.
On the current Bitcoin Convention, Kennedy revealed that a lot of his wealth is invested in Bitcoin and made many guarantees that will permit the trade to thrive below his administration.
One such pledge was to signal an government order on his first day in workplace to make Bitcoin a strategic reserve asset for the US. Moreover, he proposed exempting Bitcoin from taxes and treating it as forex relatively than subjecting it to capital features tax.
Based on him, these plans are a part of his broader financial technique, which goals to again the US greenback with Bitcoin to strengthen the nation’s monetary stability.
Notably, these positions have garnered assist from notable crypto figures, together with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.