Americans who own cryptocurrency are getting unprecedented attention from both major presidential candidates amid the tight battle for the White House.
Both former President Trump and Vice President Harris took steps this month to appeal to cryptocurrency voters, a constituency those in the industry are arguing could make a difference in elections.
The crypto industry has gained power and prominence in Washington as major digital currency firms pour millions of dollars into lobbying policymakers and mobilizing voters with crypto holdings.
Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit launched with funding from the major crypto exchange Coinbase, launched a swing state tour this month to boost voter registration among so-called “crypto voters.”
“The crypto voter is real, bipartisan, and ready to engage this cycle,” Logan Dobson, Stand with Crypto’s executive director, told The Hill following one of the nonprofit’s events in Washington, D.C., last week.
Dobson described crypto voters as a diverse group of people who invest in crypto, build companies or work with digital currencies, or those simply interested in the field. This demographic is seeking more directives from the government, Dobson said.
At the same time, some political researchers are pouring cold water on the theory, suggesting cryptocurrency will not be a decisive issue in the general election even as crypto ownership increases.
“It’s not something that has historically, that in the past few elections has made a substantial difference,” said Justin Esarey, a politics and international affairs professor at Wake Forest University. “I can’t recall it being something that a large bloc of voters have ever expressed … that it’s going to influence their vote, I guess is what I would say.”
Harris and Trump’s embrace of cryptocurrency supporters is a notable difference from both President Biden and the GOP nominee’s previous term.
Biden has appointed a slew of crypto-critical regulators, and his administration has received constant pushback over the policies of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler.
Harris, however, issued her strongest statement so far on digital currencies at a fundraiser on Wall Street this week, telling donors, “We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets, while protecting investors and consumers.”
Business investor Mark Cuban, a vocal supporter of Harris and critic of the Biden administration’s crypto policies, called her latest remarks about crypto a “positive.”
“I think she said very clearly that she is for advancing new technology in this country, and you know, she wants us to continue to be a technological leader in AI and crypto technologies and more. And I think that is a very significant positive,” Cuban said Tuesday on a Harris campaign press call.
Her remarks came less than a week after Trump, who also shifted his stances on cryptocurrency, and his sons launched a new cryptocurrency platform, World Liberty Financial.
Trump, during the launch, offered few specifics about the new business venture but described crypto as a “massive business” with the potential to “really be something special.” The launch builds upon Trump’s promise to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” if elected in November, a sharp contrast from his years of skepticism of crypto.
Coinbase went as far as arguing that the presidential election “could be decided by young crypto voters” and encouraged candidates, especially those in battleground states, to account for this constituency.
“The real call from all of them was pretty unanimous, is that they feel like they need clarity from the federal government on what the rules are around crypto, how they’re allowed to build products, build companies and what that sort of guideline looks like from the government,” Dobson said.
“The crypto industry, I think, is hungry to have some rules to follow. They would love for there to be clear guidelines laid out by the federal government, by the regulatory bodies, by Congress, but they don’t feel like they have that right now, and it’s making it really difficult to build.”
More than 52 million Americans currently own cryptocurrency, nearly a fifth of the population.
There is a “huge disaffection” with the current financial system among crypto voters, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad told The Hill.
“It’s not a partisan issue. It’s Democrat, Republican, urban, rural — it cuts across all aspects of the country,” Shrizad said.
Dobson argued the crypto voting bloc is not necessarily being directly spoken to by either of the major political parties, which he argued do not often reach a bipartisan audience.
“Crypto is a cause that spans across parties, and so we think it’s really important to have that kind of issue-based, get-out-the-vote message to really mobilize people who care about an issue rather than just in favor of one party or the other,” he said.
The campaign comes as part of a broader effort in the cryptocurrency industry to boost the voices of industry supporters as it works to defeat skeptics of the field. A report from Public Citizen, released last month, found the industry has poured more than $119 million into federal elections in 2024.
Other researchers are expressing doubt that crypto will solely drive voters to the poll.
Esarey, who studies voter behavior, pointed to a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, which has circulated in conversations about Trump’s crypto efforts. The survey found about 15 percent of registered voters said they owned or previously owned cryptocurrencies, NFTs, or similar digital products.
“And among those [15 percent], I would have to believe that cryptocurrencies were — or regulation of cryptocurrency — was taking precedence over all those other things I mentioned, like the economy or immigration,” he told The Hill.
“And I find it challenging to believe that cryptocurrency regulation is going to outweigh those other issues for any substantial chunk of that 15 percent.”
Esarey acknowledged those who sell or hold a lot of cryptocurrencies have a financial interest in the types of regulation, but he still believes “it would be an extraordinary claim” to say crypto will be decisive in this election.
But his Wake Forest colleague Raina Haque, a law professor with an expertise in emerging technologies, argued the 15 percent chunk of past and present crypto owners could be critical, given the presidential race is “neck and neck.” A polling index by Decision Desk HQ/The Hill shows Harris with a lead of 3.9 percentage points over Trump.
“You wonder if that 15 percent feel strongly. And if they do, then perhaps, yes, appealing to that kind of group — assuming that they’re kind of a monolith, which they’re not — it could have some impact on the election,” she said.
“Is it the defining? No. I think it would be hard to claim that this topic is the defining issue that will change election results otherwise. But certainly, like, we see these two parties trying to appeal to what is perceived as this electorate for that reason — that anything can swing the election one way or another.”
It could also be a way to reach a broader audience beyond party lines, Haque said.
“Crypto is something that has reached many ethnic groups, maybe outside of even traditional voting blocs for like Republicans, for example,” she said, adding, “This appeal to crypto-minded voters might actually help a party reach a voting bloc that otherwise might be harder for it to get.”
Taylor Giorno contributed.