Cryptocurrency began in part as a response to bank missteps and abuses during the 2008 financial crisis, but despite existing for nearly two decades and capturing widespread attention, the public hasn’t been sold on that point and still favors the traditional financial system for their financial access, according to a new poll commissioned by CoinDesk.
When asked which they trusted most between banks and crypto when it came to financial inclusion, 65% of respondents in an online survey said banks and only 5% preferred crypto. Although slightly more than half (52%) agree that the movement is more than a passing fad, 60% believe that crypto will be a predominantly negative force in the economy.
That’s according to 1,000 randomly selected American voters who were surveyed last week by the research firm Public Opinion Strategies. The survey is intended to get a snapshot of public sentiment as crypto and artificial intelligence issues make their way through Congress, federal regulators and the political campaigns steaming toward this year’s congressional elections.
This article is part of a CoinDesk series on voter views of the 2026 midterm elections.
The perception that banks are safer than crypto comes at a sensitive time for the industry, as its lobbyists have battled with the banking industry over the crypto sector’s main political hope: the Senate’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Banks have argued that stablecoin rewards could compete directly with their own interest-bearing deposit accounts and threaten a migration that could stifle US lending. So far, their argument has stalled the Clarity Act for months, though recent signs suggest the bill could begin moving again in the coming days.
Despite some public mistrust, crypto has come a long way in a short time to insert itself into the financial life and culture of the United States. About one in four people say they have invested in crypto (27%), although most of them got in at least a few years ago, and only 2% say they have more than $10,000 in digital assets.
Regardless of what information the public consumes about the industry, it does not appear to be helping to lift their outlook, with more than half (53%) getting a less favorable impression of the industry in recent news coverage. When thinking about crypto, those who like it gravitate mostly to the concept of its profitability, while those who distrust it focus on the scams associated with the sector.
About 46% of people have nothing to do with crypto and say they don’t want to, although that leaves 27% who have yet to invest and say they might be open to it. The negative views are most likely to be held by people older than 45, with a sharp rise in mistrust the older they get. Men, Republicans and minority groups share the most consistent affinity for crypto, according to the data.
The AI question
Like crypto, AI also gets a heap of mistrust from older respondents, although the views of younger people are quite mixed.
Overall, 55% believe the risks of AI technology outweigh its benefits. But younger demographics, men and Republicans are all a bit more likely to support the advances that they are making in digital assets. And crypto owners are also much more likely to support the benefits of artificial intelligence, with 64% saying its pursuit is worth the risk.
While corporate America has embraced the use of artificial intelligence in nearly every aspect of their business, the new data on public perceptions reveals the negative perception gap that new technologies may need to overcome to gain mass acceptance. The crypto industry has raised hopes of its eventual inclusion in the US financial regulatory system to give it wider acceptance and provide more comfort to holdouts who worry about its oversight. But that process depends on a sharply divided Congress and the calm timeline of federal regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Still, key regulators appointed by crypto-jubilant President Donald Trump have vowed to move as quickly as possible to bring digital assets into the mainstream. And key senators have suggested the Clarity Act will finally get the hearing it needs in May, keeping it potentially viable for 2026 passage.
CoinDesk will release data from this survey on Tuesday at Consensus Miami.
