Crypto Spends $176 Million on Midterms, But Only 13% of Voters See It as a Priority

The crypto industry is spending heavily on next week’s midterm elections. Voters aren’t putting it near the top of their lists.

Only 13% of Americans say it’s extremely or very important that a political candidate supports the growth of emerging financial technologies like blockchain, crypto and decentralized finance, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos for the DeFi Education Fund, a crypto policy advocacy group.

A broader pitch fared better. About 35% say it’s very important that candidates ensure those building the next generation of financial technology are encouraged to do so in the U.S., the top-ranked policy position in the survey. Just 26% said the same about supporting new rules that allow innovation in the financial system.

The DeFi Education Fund describes the results as “bipartisan support for U.S. innovation,” and the narrower crypto question shows little partisan gap: 15% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats rate it very important. But on the top-ranked item, Republicans led Democrats 45% to 30%.

The survey polled 1,545 adults from Sept. 8 to 16 on Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, the probability-based panel the Federal Reserve uses for its household finance survey, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Party identification includes independents who lean toward a party.

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The industry’s spending tells a different story. Crypto groups have spent about $176 million across more than 100 midterm races this cycle, according to a Reuters review, with super PAC Fairshake and its affiliates accounting for about $150.8 million through Oct. 20.

One Fairshake affiliate has disclosed more than $46 million in spending against former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s Senate race.

The stakes are high for the industry after the Clarity Act, which would have set federal rules for crypto markets, failed a key Senate vote in September amid disputes over ethics provisions covering President Donald Trump’s crypto interests. Since then, the industry has turned to regulators like the SEC and CFTC to write the rules instead.

The survey suggests voters care more about security and control than about crypto itself. Some 63% say the financial system needs an upgrade to combat threats like AI and cybercrime, and 49% say the government shouldn’t decide which products they can invest in.