As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, cryptocurrency is gradually becoming a focus of attention for voters as an emerging and controversial field. How do American election voters view cryptocurrency in the political landscape? And what are their opinions on owning cryptocurrency? These two topics are becoming increasingly important leading up to the 2024 US presidential election.
According to a survey conducted by Grayscale on voters for the 2024 US presidential election (collected between April 30th and May 2nd, 2024), voters expressed a sense of uncertainty and concerns about significant risks before the June 2024 presidential debate between Biden and Trump. These concerns include ongoing conflicts in multiple regions, deepening political polarization, and continuous inflation in the US economy.
The two presidential candidates have presented starkly different visions for the future of America, and nearly half of registered voters admit that they would prefer to replace the current candidates given the opportunity. In this volatile political atmosphere, the importance of cryptocurrency assets to voters is increasingly evident, as shown in the latest survey conducted by The Harris Poll for Grayscale. Here are the key findings:
1. Given the macroeconomic trends and the growing maturity of Bitcoin, we observe that the relevance of Bitcoin is gradually increasing. Currently, nearly half of the voters (47%) expect their investment portfolios to include cryptocurrency, an increase from 40% at the end of last year.
2. Consistent with the initial results of this year’s survey, participants still consider inflation as a core issue in the election (28%). This phenomenon reaffirms the potential value of assets like Bitcoin, which have transparent and fixed supply limits.
3. Trump has actively advocated for cryptocurrency in his campaign, and recently, the cryptocurrency bills FIT 21 and SAB 121 have gained support from bipartisan members of Congress. The data from the Harris Poll further confirms that cryptocurrency has become a shared focus for both parties, with ownership rates being fairly close between Republicans (18%) and Democrats (19%).
4. Will November be the “Bitcoin Election Month”?
Voters’ interest in cryptocurrency is growing
Grayscale believes that due to macro developments and Bitcoin’s growing maturity as an asset, people’s interest in Bitcoin is continuously increasing.
In the past six months since the first phase of this survey, voters’ interest in Bitcoin has significantly increased (41% vs. 34% in November 2023) due to geopolitical tensions, inflation, and risks to the US dollar.
Of particular note, 28% of voters consider inflation to be a core issue in the current election, further highlighting the potential value of assets like Bitcoin with transparent and strict supply limits.
Furthermore, Grayscale added a series of questions in the survey to gain deeper insights into voters’ perspectives. The Harris Poll’s research shows that significant events related to Bitcoin, such as the approval of the US Bitcoin ETF in January 2024 and the Bitcoin halving in April 2024, have increased voters’ interest in investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (18% and 20% respectively). In particular, the approval of the Bitcoin ETF has sparked interest from 9% of retired voters in investing in Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.
Chart 1: Voters’ Increasing Interest in Bitcoin 
So far, 2024 has been a remarkable year for Bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high on March 13, 2024. Will November be the “Bitcoin Election Month”?
Chart 2: Bitcoin Price Outperforming Previous Election Periods 
Voters’ growing interest in cryptocurrency extends beyond Bitcoin and encompasses a wider range of cryptocurrencies. This interest is reflected not only in general curiosity but also in investors’ investment intentions. Thirty-two percent (32%) of voters state that they are more willing to learn about cryptocurrency investments or actually invest in cryptocurrencies since the beginning of this year. Compared to November 2023, voters are also more likely to see cryptocurrencies as good long-term investment opportunities (23% vs. 19%) and increasingly expect some of their investment portfolios to include cryptocurrency (47% vs. 40%). This trend clearly indicates the growing importance of cryptocurrency in the minds of investors.
Chart 3: Voters’ Increasing Expectation to Include Cryptocurrency in Investment Portfolios 
Cryptocurrency is a bipartisan concern
Although Trump has embraced cryptocurrency more actively during the campaign, the data shows that cryptocurrency is a bipartisan concern, with similar ownership rates between Republicans (18%) and Democrats (19%).
When evaluating which party is more favorable to the cryptocurrency industry, voters’ opinions are divided. An equal percentage of voters (30% each) believe that both the Democratic and Republican parties hold the most favorable positions on cryptocurrency policies. These survey results indicate that support for cryptocurrency is not clearly biased towards a particular political party but maintains a balance throughout the entire political landscape. This viewpoint aligns with the recent bipartisan support for the SAB 121 resolution in Congress, which allows financial institutions to act as custodians for digital assets, potentially increasing accessibility for cryptocurrency investors.
However, it is worth noting that Republican voters tend to view inflation and economic issues as the most urgent challenges facing the United States (54% compared to 33% for Democratic voters). Therefore, Republicans appear to attach relatively more importance to issues closely related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, such as inflation and economic conditions. In contrast, Democrats seem to be more concerned about issues such as gun violence, climate change, and income inequality. This difference may explain why Trump has emphasized the importance of cryptocurrency in recent campaign activities.
Chart 4: Most Urgent Single Issues for Each Political Party 
Conclusion
The US is facing multiple choices involving macroeconomic policy issues such as government deficits and debts, inflation and the independence of the Federal Reserve, and the positioning of the US on the global stage. The differences between the two candidates on these key issues will undoubtedly have profound effects on the US dollar and Bitcoin.
As voters’ interest in cryptocurrency continues to rise, the future government’s attitude towards this emerging digital asset is highly anticipated. This is particularly important for young voters, as a staggering 62% of Generation Z and Millennial voters firmly believe that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will shape the future of finance.
With November approaching, a trend becomes increasingly evident: cryptocurrency is gradually becoming an issue that policymakers and candidates for the 2024 election cannot ignore.
Research Methodology
This survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Grayscale from April 30th to May 2nd, 2024, using its comprehensive product, Harris On Demand, to survey 1,768 adults (18 years and older) in the US who plan to participate in the 2024 presidential election. The data was weighted, if necessary, by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education level, marital status, household size, household income, employment status, and internet propensity to align with the actual population proportions and to compare with the data from the “Phase 1” survey conducted at the end of November 2023 using the same parameters. The accuracy of the sample data in this study is within a margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. This confidence interval will be broader within the target population of the survey.
