A poll conducted by the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) has shown that a candidate’s position on crypto may impact the outcome of the United States midterm elections. Significant numbers of voters are well-disposed toward crypto and want to see it treated as a serious and valid part of the economy, and bipartisanship is strong in the crypto community.
The CCI commissioned a poll of 1,208 people on Oct. 8-10 about their attitudes toward crypto and the upcoming elections. The poll found that 13% of respondents won cryptocurrency, which is in line with the 16% who owned stocks and 12% who owned mutual funds and ahead of the 5% of bondholders.
CCI chief strategist of political affairs and former Colorado senator Cory Gardner said the numbers indicate a bloc that may exert influence over the coming elections. Gardner told Cointelegraph:
“A percentage here and a percentage there could change the outlook of an election […] especially when an election can be won by thousands of votes, not hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Independents (17%), Hispanic Americans (18%), African Americans (18%) and young voters (20%) owned crypto at higher-than-average rates. The majority of Latino and African American respondents had a more favorable view of crypto and credit unions than banks. CCI communications director Amanda Russo told Cointelegraph:
“There’s a new segment of the population that this is resonating with as a new onramp to financial access and freedom.”
Another notable finding of the poll was that respondents showed a preference for social media (36%) over traditional news outlets (31%) as sources of financial information. “Regulators have to understand where people get their information from” to understand their mission, Gardner said.
Related: Almost 50% of Gen Z and Millennials want crypto in retirement funds: Survey
While 36% of respondents wanted to see crypto “treated as a mechanism for fraud and abuse,” 45% “want legislators to treat crypto as a serious and valid part of the economy,” and 52% think that crypto needs more regulation. The divide between proponents and opponents of crypto is not divided along party lines, however. Gardner said:
“The partisanship of crypto is not left or right. […] The partisanship of crypto is crypto.”
CCI intends to repeat the poll quarterly.