Democratic US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had previously denied being a Bitcoin (BTC) investor, but a recent filing contradicts his statements.
According financial documents Unveiled in June, Kennedy, a nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, has between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of Bitcoin in a brokerage account.
The revelation comes as Kennedy had explicitly said during a conference in May that he was not involved in investing in Bitcoin.
“I am not an investor and I am not here to give investment advice,” he said at the time.
In response to the report, Kennedy’s campaign manager, former Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, claimed that the Bitcoin purchase was made after the speech in Miami.
Virginia Canter, the top ethics adviser for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, expressed concern that there could be a conflict of interest if Kennedy promoted Bitcoin in his campaign while his family owned the cryptocurrency.
However, Kucinich dismissed these concerns, stating that there is no conflict. Kennedy has continued to publicly support Bitcoin since the conference in Miami.
“Bitcoin is not only a bulwark against totalitarianism and manipulation of our money supply, but it points the way to a future where government institutions are more transparent and more democratic,” he said in a June tweet.
Kennedy’s investments in Bitcoin generated less than $201 in income
Financial documents reveal that Kennedy’s Bitcoin holdings have generated less than $201 in revenue.
However, the filing does not specify the date of purchase, the person who made the investment, or the amount spent on the initial investment. The documents also do not indicate whether the family has sold its Bitcoin holdings.
Bitcoin holdings are listed in a section of the form that includes assets belonging to spouses and dependent children.
Initially, the Kennedy campaign claimed that the investments were not Kennedy’s but his wife’s and that he was not involved in their investment decisions.
However, a campaign representative later told CNBC in a statement that Kennedy has an investment in Bitcoin.
“Mr. Kennedy has an investment in bitcoin, but it came later. At the time of the bitcoin speech, he had no cryptocurrency holdings,” the representative said.
In April, Kennedy announced his plan to run for the White House in 2024, making him the second Democratic Party candidate to challenge Joe Biden in his presumptive re-election bid.
Twitter co-founder and former CEO jack dorsey has expressed his support for Kennedy, arguing that he can beat donald trump and DeSantis in 2024.
During his well-received keynote address at a Bitcoin conference in Miami, he referred to cryptocurrency as an “exercise in democracy.” He added:
“As president, I will ensure that your right to own and use Bitcoin is inviolable.”
