Kennedy believes that video games use about the same amount of energy as cryptocurrency mining.
On May 3, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. condemned the Biden administration’s proposed 30% crypto mining tax and responded to concerns about cryptocurrencies.
Kennedy says cryptocurrency regulation is a power grab
Kennedy, who is running for the 2024 US presidential election, said in a post on Twitter:
“Cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin and other crypto technologies, are a major engine of innovation…Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea.”
Kennedy believes that proposals to control cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency mining are politically motivated. He called the debate surrounding Bitcoin’s high energy consumption a “selective excuse” to control threats to elite power structures.
He further stated that if Bitcoin and many other currencies were available alongside the dollar, the U.S. economy would be more resilient.
The Biden administration’s plan to impose a 30% mining tax was previously reported on May 2, and the possible tax was also discussed in the March tax plan.
RFK Jr. believes gaming is as demanding as mining
Kennedy acknowledged that the energy consumption involved in bitcoin mining is a "problem." However, he argued that mining consumes roughly the same amount of energy as video games, and noted that games would not face regulatory requirements.
Kennedy did not specify where he got these figures. However, one possible source is a 2020 estimate by mining group Braiins, which suggests that global video games consume 104.7 TWh of energy per year. In comparison, data from the University of Cambridge suggests that Bitcoin mining currently uses a total of 131.53 TWh of energy per year.
Kennedy questions Bitcoin use for crime
Kennedy also argued that, contrary to some critics, Bitcoin is not only used by “criminals who want privacy.” He said dissidents and ordinary citizens may also need to use Bitcoin because governments can control bank accounts and payments.
His assertion about crime is backed up by some statistics, with data from Elliptic suggesting that less than 5% of all cryptocurrency transactions since 2016 have been linked to crime.
However, other studies have shown that as recently as 2018, 46% of Bitcoin transactions were used for illegal activities. Therefore, the true amount of crypto-related crime is unknown.