Financial disclosures have made clear that US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. owns up to $250,000 in Bitcoin, despite his previous claim that he was not an investor in cryptocurrency, CNBC reported on Friday.
Kennedy has been a consistent advocate for digital currency since he began his campaign for office, praising it on multiple occasions at events and on social media.
Speaking at a major Bitcoin conference in Miami in May, Kennedy said “I am not an investor and I am not here to give investment advice.” At the conference he also announced that his campaign would be the first to accept Bitcoin donations in the US.
However, the June 30 financial disclosure obtained by CNBC showed that he owns between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of Bitcoin.
The document does not provide additional information on when or by whom the Bitcoin was purchased, only that it has returned less than $201 since the investment was made.
According to Kennedy’s campaign manager, Dennis Kucinich, the assets were bought after his speech at the conference in May and before June 30.
Kennedy’s campaign team initially stated that the Bitcoin belonged to his wife and that the presidential candidate did not hold cryptocurrency, according to CNBC.
“The investments were not his, but his wife’s. He is not involved in her investment decisions,” the team said.
Shortly afterward, however, a campaign representative released a new statement confirming that the Bitcoin investment was indeed Kennedy’s, the outlet said.
“I was mistaken in my last communication. Mr. Kennedy does hold a bitcoin investment, but it came later. At the time of the Bitcoin speech he had no cryptocurrency holdings,” the representative stated.
In late June, Kennedy tweeted describing Bitcoin as a “bulwark against totalitarianism and the manipulation of our money supply, it points the way toward a future in which government institutions are more transparent and more democratic.”
Kennedy Jr. is the son of former Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the nephew of the 35th US President, John F. Kennedy. His support comes at a time when the Securities and Exchange Commission is cracking down on crypto businesses in the absence of a proper regulatory framework for digital assets in the US.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section