A new survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University reveals that 1 in 7 voters in the U.S. have invested in crypto, and these crypto voters are more likely to vote for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump than Kamala Harris.
The survey polled a national list of more than 800 registered voters from August 17 to 20. The group was asked if they had ever invested in crypto or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and if they’ve ever traded stocks, options, or crypto on Robinhood or E*Trade.
According to the survey, crypto owners are 50% more likely to back Trump, while only 38% are likely to vote for Harris.
“Trump has been reaching out to the crypto community, and it seems to have paid off,” Dan Cassino, the executive director of the poll at FDU, said.
“It might be easy to dismiss them as insignificant, but I don’t think people realize exactly how widespread crypto ownership is,” he added.
Crypto owners now account for 50 million Americans, making them a significant portion of the electorate. Candidates are aware of their growing political power, with Trump courting crypto voters at a recent Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee. On stage, Trump pledged to create a strategic bitcoin reserve and free Ross Ulbricht, who is currently in jail for his role as the founder of the drug marketplace Silk Road.
However, non-crypto owners polled by FDU overwhelmingly support Harris. These voters display 53% support for Harris compared to just 41% for Trump, reflecting a 12-point lead for Harris.
“The ideology underlying crypto is based on distrust of existing power structures, and that makes it a reasonable fit for Trump,” said Cassino about the results.
“The fact that crypto owners aren’t conservatives or liberals or MAGA voters means that they’re up for grabs, and in an election that’s expected to be close, they’re too big a group to ignore.”
The results also indicated that Republicans polled higher (18%) than Democrats (11%) in terms of their crypto ownership.