Grayscale Investments, the world's largest digital currency asset manager, on Tuesday announced the results of a new national survey, conducted on its behalf by The Harris Poll, which examines how Americans feel about the state of the economy and cryptocurrencies amid the 2022 US election. More than half of Americans surveyed (53%) agree that “cryptocurrencies are the future of finance,” including 59% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans, while 44% of Americans said they expect cryptocurrencies to become part of their investment portfolio in the future.

“As we approach the midterm election, U.S. voters are considering the intersection of cryptocurrency, traditional finance, and the state of the economy. This survey reinforces that crypto continues to generate diverse, mainstream investor interest and engagement,” said Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein. “As Americans consider their financial future, policymakers and regulators have an opportunity to protect investors through greater regulatory clarity and guidance, while allowing market participants, like financial advisors, to enable access to well-informed crypto offerings.”

Highlights from the Grayscale/Harris Poll include:

●       Nearly half of Americans are familiar with cryptocurrency (49%), and familiarity rises among younger investors, including 70% of those aged 18-34 and 62% of those aged 35-44. Familiarity is also higher among minorities, including 60% of Black and 62% of Hispanic Americans, compared to 43% of White Americans.

●       The challenging economic environment may be sparking interest for Americans beyond traditional investments, like equities or mutual funds. A quarter of Americans (25%) say inflation and the current economic climate have made them more interested in cryptocurrency.

●       Interest in cryptocurrency seems to translate to adoption, particularly among young and diverse investors. About one-third of Black (34%) and Hispanic (32%) Americans, as well as those under 45 years old (37%), say inflation and the current economic climate have made them more interested in cryptocurrency. Nearly one-third of Black (30%) and Hispanic (32%) Americans, as well as those under 45 years old (33%), already own cryptocurrency.

●       Among those who have invested in cryptocurrency, only one quarter (25%) invested due to a recommendation from a financial advisor compared to 41% who read, saw, or heard something that piqued their curiosity, and 37% who received a recommendation from a friend or family member.

Bipartisan Support for Clear and Accessible Regulation

With the high-stakes midterm election now a week away, the survey took a look at the views of registered voters, of which 89% plan to cast a ballot. Among registered voters:

●       Nearly two in five (39%) see the U.S. as behind other countries in creating a regulatory environment that makes it easy or safe for anyone to buy or trade cryptocurrency.

●       Over a third (37%) are considering candidates’ policy positions on cryptocurrency before casting their vote.

●       81% agree there should be clearer cryptocurrency industry regulation, including 88% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans.

●       More than four in five of both Republicans (81%) and Democrats (82%) feel it is important to take a consumer-first approach to regulation – allowing consumers (not the government) to decide how to invest in cryptocurrencies by providing necessary information about various products, while creating a regulatory framework that ensures anyone can access cryptocurrency (80% among both Republicans and Democrats).

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States between October 6-11, 2022, among 2,029 adults (aged 18 and over) by The Harris Poll on behalf of Grayscale Investments via its Harris On Demand omnibus product.

Data were weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income, employment, and propensity to be online, to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in The Harris Poll surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.

To learn more about the survey, please visit: www.grayscale.com/midterms.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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