With the 2024 US presidential election approaching, cryptocurrencies are gradually becoming a focus of attention for voters in this emerging and controversial field. How do American voters view cryptocurrencies in the political landscape? What are their opinions on owning cryptocurrencies? These two topics are becoming increasingly important leading up to the 2024 US election.
According to a survey conducted by Grayscale on voters for the 2024 US election (collected between April 30th and May 2nd, 2024), before the presidential debate between Biden and Trump in June 2024, voters expressed a sense of uncertainty and concern about significant risks. These risks include ongoing conflicts in multiple regions, deep polarization in political discourse, and sustained inflation in the US economy.
The two presidential candidates have portrayed starkly different future blueprints for the United States, and nearly half of registered voters admit that they would prefer to replace the existing candidates given the opportunity. In this volatile political atmosphere, the importance of cryptocurrency assets to voters is increasingly evident, as seen in the latest survey conducted by The Harris Poll for Grayscale. The following are the main findings:
1. Given the macroeconomic trends and the increasing maturity of Bitcoin itself, we observe that the relevance of Bitcoin is gradually increasing. Currently, nearly half of the voters (47%) expect their investment portfolios to include cryptocurrencies, an increase from 40% at the end of last year.
2. In line with the initial results of this year’s survey, participants still consider inflation as a core issue in the election (28%). This phenomenon once again confirms the potential value of assets like Bitcoin, which have transparent and fixed supply limits.
3. Trump actively advocated for cryptocurrencies during his campaign, and recently, the cryptocurrency bills FIT21 and SAB 121 have garnered support from bipartisan members of Congress. The data from The Harris Poll further confirms that cryptocurrencies have become a shared focus for both parties, with ownership rates being similar for Republicans (18%) and Democrats (19%).
4. Will November become the “Bitcoin Election Month”? Voter interest in cryptocurrencies is growing. Grayscale believes that due to macro developments and the growing maturity of Bitcoin as an asset, people’s interest in Bitcoin is increasing.
In the past six months since the first phase of this survey, voter interest in Bitcoin has significantly increased (41% vs. 34% in November 2023) due to geopolitical tensions, inflation, and dollar risks. Of particular note, 28% of voters consider inflation as a core issue in the current election, further highlighting the potential value of assets like Bitcoin, which have transparent and strict supply limits.
Additionally, Grayscale added a series of questions to the survey to gain a deeper understanding of voter perspectives. The survey results from The Harris Poll show 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 voter 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: Increasing Voter Interest in Bitcoin
2024 has been a remarkable year for Bitcoin so far, with the price reaching an all-time high on March 13th, 2024. Will November be the “Bitcoin Election Month”?
Chart 2: Bitcoin Price Higher Than Previous Election Periods
Voter interest in cryptocurrencies is not limited to Bitcoin alone but extends to a broader range of digital assets. This interest is reflected both in general interest levels and in investors’ intention to invest. Nearly one-third of voters (32%) say 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 consider cryptocurrencies as good long-term investment opportunities (23% vs. 19%) and increasingly expect some of their investment portfolios to include cryptocurrencies (47% vs. 40%). This trend clearly indicates the increasing importance of cryptocurrencies in the minds of investors.
Chart 3: Voters Increasingly Expect Cryptocurrencies in Their Investment Portfolios
Cryptocurrencies are a political issue of mutual concern for both parties
While Trump has been more actively embracing cryptocurrencies during the campaign process, the data shows that cryptocurrencies are an issue of mutual concern for both parties, with similar ownership rates for Republicans (18%) and Democrats (19%).
When evaluating which political party is more favorable to the cryptocurrency industry, opinions vary. 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 cryptocurrencies is not clearly biased towards a particular party but maintains a balance across the entire political landscape. This viewpoint aligns with the bipartisan support recently received by the SAB 121 resolution in Congress, which allows financial institutions to act as custodians of digital assets and potentially increase accessibility for cryptocurrency investors.
However, it is worth noting that Republican voters tend to view inflation and economic issues as the most pressing challenges facing the United States (54%, compared to 33% for Democratic voters). Therefore, Republicans seem to place relatively more emphasis on issues closely related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, such as inflation and economic conditions. In contrast, Democrats appear to be more concerned with issues such as gun violence, climate change, and income inequality. This difference may explain why Trump has emphasized the importance of cryptocurrencies in recent campaign activities.
Chart 4: Top Single Issues for Each Party
Conclusion
The United States is facing multiple choices involving macroeconomic policy issues such as government deficits and debt, inflation and the independence of the Federal Reserve, and the positioning of the United States on the global stage. The disagreements between the two candidates on these key issues will undoubtedly have far-reaching impacts on the US dollar and Bitcoin.
With the growing interest of voters in cryptocurrencies, 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 cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology will shape the future of finance.
As November approaches, a trend becomes increasingly evident: cryptocurrencies are becoming an issue that policymakers and candidates for the 2024 election cannot ignore.
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 United States who plan to participate in the 2024 presidential election. The data was weighted when necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education level, marital status, household size, household income, employment status, and internet propensity to match the actual population proportions and compared to the “Phase 1” data collected at the end of November 2023 using the same parameters. The accuracy of the sample data in this study is within a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. This confidence interval will be wider within the target population of the survey.
