KEY POINTS
- RFK Jr. said that if he secures the presidency, he will have the government buy Bitcoin equivalent to the country's gold reserves
- The independent candidate may have taken a page off of El Salvador's book, which holds over 5,700 $BTC
- Prices were down Wednesday, but $BTC has since climbed to $67,000 amid hype around the Bitcoin 2024 conference
Bitcoin is the talk of the town as the Nashville conference is underway, and a key figure in the political space has floated the idea of the federal government buying Bitcoin equivalent to the United States' gold reserves.
RFK Jr. takes $BTC plan a notch higher
Earlier this week, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was at the center of talks in the crypto space after a rumor indicated that he would declare Bitcoin as a reserve asset during his keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
It turns out independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a more ambitious plan for Bitcoin should he win the presidency. He revealed during an interview this week with YouTuber Scott Melker that he will make the federal government acquire Bitcoins throughout his term if he wins in November.
"I would like to have the federal government begin to buy Bitcoin and over my term in office, ultimately have an equivalent amount of Bitcoin that we have gold," said Kennedy Jr., who is widely recognized in the crypto space as a $BTC advocate.
El Salvador rings a bell
It can be safe to say that RFK Jr.'s idea was inspired by El Salvador, which, under President Nayib Bukele, has been purchasing 1 $BTC on a daily basis since late 2022. El Salvador now holds over 5,700 Bitcoins worth some $382 million based on current prices.
Bukele promised that his country would stay true to its promise of daily purchasing Bitcoin, three years after El Salvador became the first country to make a $BTC legal tender.
How much gold does the US hold?
Data from the World Gold Council reveals that the U.S. has gold reserves of 8,133.46 metric tons, worth around $480 billion. Based on current prices, the U.S. will need to purchase over seven million Bitcoins to match the amount of its gold reserves.
If the U.S. achieves the said purchases, it will easily become the world's largest holder of Bitcoin. As of July, investment giant BlackRock is the known largest holder of $BTC, thanks to immense inflows into its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
RFK Jr. encourages decentralization
Democracy is the heart of the United States, Kennedy Jr. said, noting that if the country wants to preserve its democracy, "we need to decentralize." For him, Bitcoin "is honest because there's nobody in charge" and it stands for "personal sovereignty."
Kennedy Jr. is due to speak Friday at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, which successfully wrapped up its first day Thursday, with big announcements from some of the key industry players, including MicroStrategy, which partnered with Bitcoin Magazine to propel broader $BTC onboarding among corporations.
JUST IN: Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr says "I put most of my wealth into Bitcoin. I am fully committed." pic.twitter.com/N8NYexHPbj
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) July 26, 2024
He already appeared at the conference on Day 1, gracing the Karate Combat event and revealing that he has placed "most" of his wealth into Bitcoin.
Bitcoin rallies
Amid the hype around the Bitcoin conference, the world's first decentralized digital asset recovered to the green line, increasing by over 4% in the last 24 hours, as per CoinGecko data.
$BTC was trading below $66,000 Wednesday, a day before the much-anticipated summit kicked off, but has since climbed and added $1,000 early on Friday.
