Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on May 3 condemned a 30% crypto mining tax proposed by the Biden administration and responded to issues round crypto.
Kennedy says crypto regulation is an influence seize
Kennedy, who’s operating within the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, mentioned in a thread on Twitter:
“Cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin, together with different crypto applied sciences are a serious innovation engine … Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a foul thought.”
Kennedy argued that proposals for controls on cryptocurrency and crypto mining are politically motivated. He referred to as arguments round Bitcoin’s excessive power consumption a “selective pretext” to regulate threats in opposition to elite energy constructions.
He additional argued that the US financial system shall be extra resilient if Bitcoin and plenty of different currencies can be found together with the U.S. greenback.
The Biden administration’s plan to introduce a 30% mining tax was beforehand reported on Could 2. The attainable tax was additionally mentioned in a tax plan in March.
RFK Jr. argues gaming is as demanding as mining
Kennedy conceded that power consumption concerned in Bitcoin mining is a “concern.” Nevertheless, he argued that mining makes use of roughly the identical quantity of power as video video games do and famous that gaming doesn’t face requires regulation.
Kennedy didn’t say the place he obtained that information. Nevertheless, one attainable supply is a 2020 estimate from the mining group Braiins, which means that video gaming consumes 104.7 TWh of power per 12 months globally. In contrast, Cambridge College information means that Bitcoin mining at present makes use of 131.53 TWh of power per 12 months in whole.
Kennedy questions Bitcoin’s use in crime
Kennedy additionally argued that Bitcoin just isn’t not simply utilized by “criminals who need privateness,” opposite to some critics. He mentioned that political dissidents and common residents may additionally have a necessity to make use of Bitcoin as governments can management financial institution accounts and funds.
His assertion about crime is supported by some statistics. Information from Elliptic means that lower than 5% of all crypto transactions have been associated to crime since 2016.
Nevertheless, different research counsel that 46% of Bitcoin transactions have been utilized in criminality as lately as 2018. As such, the true quantity of crypto-related crime is unknown.
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