Exploration Conference | Full Transcript of the Press Conference of U.S. Presidential Candidate Kennedy

Interview: Wendy, Foresight News

U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the Consensus conference held in Austin on May 30, local time, and engaged in an in-depth exchange with reporters during the media Q&A session before his public speech, sharing his insights and views on cryptocurrency, strategies for addressing the debt crisis, clean energy, and more. Foresight News has summarized these questions and answers to convey his statements and viewpoints at the event.

Q: I would like to know your thoughts on the recent approval of the Ethereum spot ETF. Do you think this is beneficial for the government and traditional financial institutions?

Kennedy: I am very pleased about this. Regardless, it is a good thing.

Although I speculate that there may be political motives behind this decision, after all, Gary Gensler (Chairman of the SEC) and the White House have been very opposed to it. But this is a step in the right direction.

I applaud this. We should do everything we can to encourage capital to flow into altcoins and decentralized currencies.

Q: The U.S. is currently adding $1 trillion in debt every 100 days. If we eventually reach a point where we must print money in large quantities to save the banks, what would your strategy be? Would it include Bitcoin? How will we respond to the debt crisis?

Kennedy: First, we need to cut spending, and we need to cut it in some way. Our debt has exceeded the point where we can get out of it solely by cutting spending.

We must change the way we use funds to promote economic growth. Current spending does not promote economic growth; it consists of isolated investments.

You build bombers and missiles, and then you destroy them, which does not lead to economic growth. Moreover, chronic disease (government spending) is currently at $4.3 trillion, which is five times our military budget. This is also a dead-end investment. It is actually a negative investment because it incurs greater costs to our society and individuals.

We need to terminate the spread of chronic diseases, and I will do that. We need to redirect this money into savings or into projects that can genuinely promote economic growth. The only way to get rid of this debt is to grow the economy so that the debt becomes smaller in proportion.

There are opportunities, especially in blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. If we manage to keep these technologies in the U.S., we can greatly develop our economy like Silicon Valley.

I also propose using some funds for Bitcoin or a basket of hard currencies. In other words, issuing treasury bonds, starting with perhaps only 1% of the bonds being composed of a basket of hard assets, including Bitcoin. If this works, then increase that percentage to 2% the following year, and then add one percentage point each year thereafter.

I believe that causing the dollar to collapse overnight would be detrimental to our country. But in the long run, we need to constrain spending. And the only way to do that is to use hard currencies.

The ability to print money infinitely has fueled this behavior among politicians, and it has fueled all our wars. If we really had to pay for wars, we wouldn't have these endless wars.

The reason we can do this—and it is very harmful to our country—is because of printing money. Ultimately, hard currencies give us freedom. Especially Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies. It liberates us. It enables us to achieve democracy and decentralize the economy. It allows us to carry our wealth across borders in our minds.

It ends the government's ability to seize our wealth.

Q: I hope you can elaborate on your plan to place the federal budget on the blockchain, particularly in terms of technical details. In practice, which blockchain would be used? What would it look like?

Kennedy: What I want to do is ensure that the federal government—the federal budget—is completely transparent. Everyone should have access to it. One way to achieve this is to place it on the blockchain.

I want to use blockchain in many ways to make our country more transparent, more decentralized, and to give individuals sovereignty. At the same time, we encourage the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem in America.

Q: You are the first presidential candidate to publicly support every American having a crypto wallet for self-custody. What are your thoughts on decentralized exchanges and the 50 million Americans investing in cryptocurrency, the voters? Can they use decentralized exchanges as freely as they use crypto wallets or the internet?

Kennedy: That is my goal. I believe that cryptocurrencies need regulation, especially those that claim to be decentralized but are actually centralized, because there are many opportunities for fraud and malicious actors to manipulate and deceive. Consumers need protection from these behaviors.

Cryptocurrencies sometimes look like commodities and sometimes like securities. And federal agencies currently do not have the capacity to provide the necessary special regulation for them. That is what I want to do as president.

I want to promote and popularize Bitcoin among the public so that it can be used for transactions.

Q: How long do you think it will take for large governments to start purchasing Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, seeing them as an advantage over rivals or other superpowers?

Kennedy: I don't know. Two or three years ago, if you had asked me when BlackRock would start buying (Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies), I would have said, I don't know. Now BlackRock is one of the largest holders. So, to your question, I don't know.

I think we need a shift in government to recognize the role Bitcoin can play in saving the dollar. It is not the enemy of the dollar. In fact, it can be used to save the dollar. I recognize that. Perhaps another superpower will do the same. But I don't know.

There are some countries that are officially using Bitcoin as their currency, but the level of adoption is still not high. Even in El Salvador, Bitcoin transactions account for only about 1%. But I think they are not ready yet. They haven't thought through the regulatory process. We need to do that.

I believe the adoption of (cryptocurrencies) will happen very quickly. It really depends on the inflation rate. But it is a hedge against inflation. This opportunity should be provided to every member of the American middle class along with all other advantages. Those who earn a salary should be able to convert their cash and investments into Bitcoin to hedge against inflation.

Q: Many of the technologies we discuss, from Bitcoin mining to artificial intelligence, are very energy-intensive. So, what solutions do you have for clean energy?

Kennedy: I believe this industry does need to do better. But I also think that, in the long run, there is an inherent incentive mechanism that Bitcoin mining can actually benefit the environment. I say this because even now, Bitcoin miners are chasing the cheapest energy, as energy costs are the largest expense.

85% of the cost of Bitcoin mining is energy, and the profit you gain from mining depends on your ability to reduce those costs. So, they will go to places where energy is free, and they are mobile and can move at any time.

Any Bitcoin miner that buys high-cost energy—which is also the energy that has the most environmental impact—will be eliminated from market competition because the lowest-cost energy has the least environmental impact. Anyone who does not take advantage of this will be eliminated from the market.

Another reason is that I have spent 10 to 15 years building power plants, wind farms, and solar power plants, all of which are intermittent power sources. If you cannot guarantee a stable source of income, it is difficult to finance them. Bitcoin miners can go to those sites and build mining farms there because there are times when the sun shines every day, but the electronic flow cannot be sold due to oversupply. They can sign contracts indicating that they will purchase that electricity.

They will buy all the excess electricity and use it for Bitcoin mining. This can provide a source of income for those companies, which in many cases will enable them to fund projects that would otherwise be unfundable. This is how we achieve the transition to renewable energy.

Q: You have mentioned several times that transparency is an ideal feature of cryptocurrencies. What other characteristics of tokens might drive us into the next generation of cryptocurrencies?

Kennedy: I cannot tell you specific tokens, but the characteristics they should have are transparency, decentralization, and the inability to be manipulated like fiat currencies. If we had a base currency, we would not participate in all wars except perhaps World War II and World War I. Because Americans must approve these expenditures in advance, but they do not do so.

They must choose between sending their children to school, feeding them, and going to war; they will not choose war. Now politicians can wage wars because there is no cost to them. They pass the costs onto future generations by diluting our wealth through inflation. So cryptocurrencies have this advantage of making government honest. If you are in a totalitarian regime, you can carry your wealth with you.

After 1948, a million Jews were expelled from various countries in North Africa and the Middle East, and new laws stipulated that they could only leave with the property in their suitcases. They lost all their wealth. The same happened in post-war Germany. With cryptocurrencies, this situation will not occur. You can carry your wealth in your mind. You do not have to carry it physically.

So it is a safeguard against totalitarian regimes. It can also… if you try to carry $10,000 across the U.S. border, no matter which country you come from, the government will do one of two things: either put you in jail or steal your money and then put you in jail.

Those are your only two options. But if you have cryptocurrencies, you can cross borders with the money in your mind and preserve your wealth. It eliminates the government's power to regulate and oppress us.