A Majority of US Voters Want More Crypto Regulation, Poll Shows

The crypto industry may be fretting over tightening regulations and upcoming legislation, but new poll results released Wednesday indicate a majority of voters surveyed believe lawmakers need to turn up the dial on crypto regulation.

A national poll conducted by the Crypto Council for Innovation in October revealed that 52% of the 1,200 voters surveyed want the industry to be more regulated, while a mere 7% said they think the industry should be less regulated. The remaining 41% of respondents were evenly split between thinking the industry was sufficiently regulated already, or not having an opinion.

When developing crypto regulations, the majority of voters (58%) want lawmakers to prioritize market stability and fraud detection.

Former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who now serves as the Crypto Council for Innovation’s chief political strategist, told CoinDesk that the poll results indicate that voters are starting to recognize the potential of crypto.

“They know what’s there, and they want regulations to create clarity and consistency in the industry to allow the potential to be realized,” Gardner said. “We need safety and soundness and clarity to the rules, and we need that legislative framework in place. It’s nice to see that a majority of people across this country believe the same thing.”

Just how many of those people will turn up at the ballot box during the upcoming midterm elections remains a mystery. Crypto companies like Coinbase and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) have spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress, fundraising for crypto-friendly candidates, and encouraging crypto holders to vote in line with their wallets.

The Crypto Council for Innovation’s poll revealed that 13% of respondents own cryptocurrency. Only 1% of respondents said they owned a non-fungible token (NFT).

However, poll results indicate that crypto is unlikely to be a deciding factor for most voters. Only 6% of all respondents described themselves as being “much more likely” to vote for a politician who supports crypto; 39% of people either described themselves as “somewhat less likely” or “much less likely” to vote for a crypto-friendly candidate. The largest percentage, 42%, said it wouldn’t impact their vote at all.

Among voters who hold crypto, nearly 60% said they were at least somewhat more likely to vote for a crypto-friendly candidate, though more than a third said it wouldn’t factor into their decision.

“The American people are seeing opportunity,” Gardner said. “[Crypto] is in the mix to stay. They’re going to vote for somebody who is supportive of their views on cryptocurrency, and that means during the elections in two weeks, a difference can be made if candidates reach out to the people who are interested in cryptocurrency.”