July 2024 Democratic Public Opinion Poll

Democratic voters are increasingly gravitating towards crypto.

That’s the primary takeaway of our new poll of registered Democrats, the complement to our poll of Republicans. from June. These results dovetail with recent reports that Democratic candidates for office and Members of Congress are becoming pro-crypto, indicating that political figures are following the lead of their voters.

For this release, the poll was conducted with the research firm Mercury Analytics. Our poll was in the field from July 25th until August 1st, meaning that this data was collected in the days after President Joe Biden announced he would be stepping down as the Democratic nominee for President and Vice President Kamala Harris effectively locked up the nomination. We polled 804 self-identified Democratic registered voters for this poll, with a margin of error of 3.5%. We also oversampled Black, Hispanic, and AAPI Democrats, conducting 100 additional interviews with each of these audiences, to gain better insight into how non-white Democrats view crypto.

Takeaway 1: Democratic crypto voters are up for grabs this November.

Making inroads with crypto owners could help Vice President Harris win back some wayward Democrats and increase her likelihood of winning. As of right now, there are 1-2% of Democrats who may be leaning towards Trump due the Biden Administration’s hostility to crypto.

• Of the 804 Democrats we polled, 13% said they were not voting for Harris as they are either voting for Trump, a third-party candidate, or are still undecided.
• Trump-supporting Democrats are far more likely to have brought cryptocurrency than the rest of those polled. 18% of non-Harris Democrats have bought crypto, and Trump-supporting Democrats have bought at two times that rate.
• Additionally, 21% of non-Harris voters say that the Biden Administration has been “a little too hostile” or “much too hostile” on crypto.

Takeaway 2: Democrats are worried about losing purchasing power and being cut off from the financial system.

A core goal of crypto – giving people greater ability to maintain financial privacy – resonates with Democrats. Contrary to some suppositions, Democratic voters recognize the dangers of mass surveillance.

Financial privacy is a core belief for Democratic voters.

• 72% of respondents agreed that “personal financial transactions should generally be kept private, and only made available to government agencies when needed for specific purposes.”
• Just 15% took the view that “personal financial transactions should generally be recorded in a place where it is easy for government agencies like the IRS to review transactions.”

• Additionally, 78% of respondents said it was extremely or very important that people have a way to pay for reproductive care without making their transactions known to their state government or the federal government; only 6% of Democrats disagreed.

Nearly all Democrats are also worried about protecting their purchasing power, matching the views of Republicans and Independents:

• 80% of Democrats said it was “very important” or “extremely important” that their “money maintains its purchasing power over time.”

Takeaway 3: Crypto is most popular among Democratic voters of color.

When Democrats come out as pro-crypto, they are following the lead of their own non-white base voters, who view crypto positively. Previous Paradigm polling has shown that crypto ownership and support is strongest among non-white voters, and that is also true among non-white Democrats. 

• 18% of Democrats have bought crypto in the past.
• This number rises to 22% among Black Democrats, 25% among Hispanic Democrats, and 27% among Asian American and Pacific Islander Democrats.

To be clear, crypto is the most popular among non-white Democrats regardless of ownership.

• 28% of Black Democrats, 32% of Hispanic Democrats, and 27% of AAPI Democrats say that crypto plays a positive role in the U.S. economy. This is a massive jump compared to 13% of White Democrats who said the same.

Takeaway 4: Crypto ownership is likely to grow among Democrats in the next 12 months.

More Democratic voters are saying they plan to buy crypto in the next 12 months than have ever bought it before. If you needed additional proof that Democrats are warming to crypto, this is a fire bell in the night.

• 9% of Democrats say they are very likely to invest in crypto in the next year, and another 18% of Democrats are somewhat likely to invest.
• This means about 27% of Democrats who haven’t yet bought crypto are likely to buy in the next year.

Takeaway 5: Crypto ownership among Democrats is approaching parity with stock ownership and continues to grow.

Based on our data, millions of Democratic voters own tens of thousands of dollars of crypto. These are significant holdings for any asset, the kind that drive voting behavior:

• At present, 18% of Democrats have bought crypto, with 12% currently owning and 6% having previously bought it but no longer owning it. 33% of respondents currently own stock.
• 8% of Democrats first bought crypto within the last year, with 3% having bought crypto in the past few months and 2% buying in the past few weeks.
• 8% of respondents say they currently own more $1000 in crypto
• 5% of respondents own more than $10,000 in crypto.
• Underscoring crypto’s popularity among non-white Democrats, 10% of Hispanic Democrats polled own more than $10,000 in crypto, and 9% of AAPI Democrats own more than $10,000 in crypto.

Takeaway 6: Much like Republican voters, Democratic voters are concerned about being cut off from the financial system, especially under a second Trump Administration.

Democratic voters are open to options outside the traditional financial system, and want financial freedom as much as Republicans. The specter of another Trump Administration is creating intense pressure on Democrats to find alternative means of protecting their access to financial services.

• 62% of Democratic voters are concerned that they, their family, or their business “may lose access to financial services as a result of your political views,” with just 38% not being concerned.

• 80% of respondents said they were concerned that a second Trump Administration would cut off their family’s access to financial services.

Takeaway 7: Democrats want the United States to be a world leader in crypto.

Democrats want crypto innovation in the United States:

• 43% of Democrats said it was either very important or extremely important that the “United States leads the world in high-tech software innovations such as cryptocurrency and fintech,” with another 38% saying it was somewhat important.
• Just 8% of Democrats said the U.S. leading the world in these innovations was “not at all important”.

This is a strong sign that, contrary to actions by some Biden Administration officials, Democratic voters want crypto innovation centered here in America. It also should give Democratic Members of Congress and the Harris campaign confidence that Democratic voters want reasonable legislation passed crafting a regulatory regime for crypto.