Crypto support is not divided along party lines, new data shows

Data shows little difference between Republicans and Democrats on crypto

New polling data suggests the idea that cryptocurrency is a politically divided issue does not match what most Americans think. The findings come from an opinion column by Jennifer Rosenthal of the DeFi Education Fund, who reviewed a survey of U.S. voters.

The analysis was written as one of the most politically divided election seasons approached. Some have tried to frame digital assets as a red-versus-blue fight. Rosenthal says the numbers tell a different story.

What the survey found

The DeFi Education Fund commissioned Ipsos to survey Americans through its KnowledgePanel. The group then looked at how different parties answered.

• Republicans (15%) and Democrats (13%) said nearly the same thing about how important it is for a political candidate to encourage emerging financial technologies such as blockchain, crypto, and decentralized finance.


• More than one in four Americans in both parties — 27% of Republicans and 27% of Democrats — support new rules and regulations that would allow financial innovation to happen.


• When asked which financial innovation priority matters most, both parties gave the same answer: it is important to ensure that people building the next generation of financial technology are encouraged to do so in the United States.

Blockchain, in this context, is the technology behind many digital assets that records transactions in a way that is hard to change. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, refers to financial services built on that kind of technology rather than through traditional banks.

Americans want a financial system that is more secure and transparent

The survey also found that most Americans feel the current system does not work well for them. About 31% strongly agree that the financial system works well for people like them. No traditional bank earned complete or a lot of trust from half of any group of Americans surveyed. About 49% said they feel personal control over their financial assets.

On what the system should look like next, Americans seemed to agree on direction:

• 63% say the financial system needs to be upgraded to fight new threats such as cybercrime and artificial intelligence.


• 74% say financial privacy matters to them.


• 66% want access to their money at all times.

The numbers also show crypto use rising. More than one in five Americans has owned or used cryptocurrency, up from 18% in 2025. Two in five Americans say they would be at least somewhat likely to try decentralized finance, and more than eight in ten of those would use it to save money, send money to family, or earn interest.

Why this matters

Rosenthal argues that the partisan framing is not backed by the data. She says treating crypto as a political battleground makes it harder to build the secure, transparent, American-made financial system that most Americans say they want. At its core, she writes, crypto is financial technology infrastructure, and political leaders who treat it that way will find the public already on their side.

Readers can explore the research findings at research.defieducationfund.org. The views in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk.

What is confirmed

The survey results, the party breakdowns, and the percentages are confirmed by the supplied source. Rosenthal's conclusion that crypto support is not a partisan fight is her opinion, which the source labels as such. The survey was conducted for the DeFi Education Fund by Ipsos through KnowledgePanel.

What is still unclear

The supplied article does not include the full survey methodology, such as the exact number of people polled, the margin of error, or how the survey was fielded. It does not say whether other independent surveys reach the same conclusion on this issue.

Sources

• CoinDesk — Crypto isn't a partisan fight, proven by data