US Democrats are ‘increasingly gravitating towards crypto’ — Poll

According to a poll sponsored by venture capital firm Paradigm, United States Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has an opportunity to make “inroads with crypto owners” during her campaign.

In a poll conducted with Mercury Analytics among 804 self-identified Democratic registered voters after US President Joe Biden said he would not be running for reelection, data suggested that Vice President Harris could increase her chances of winning in November by appealing to crypto-focused voters. Of the Democrats surveyed, 27% said they were “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to purchase crypto in the next year.

According to the poll, roughly 13% of Democrats said they were undecided or intended to vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump or a third-party candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This data suggested that Harris could “win back some wayward Democrats” seemingly by distancing herself from the Biden administration’s crypto policies, such as those at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Financial privacy

Significantly, the poll suggested that a majority of Democrats surveyed agreed with some of the core values underlying digital assets related to the government potentially tracking funds used for reproductive care. Since the overturning of the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade in 2022, the legality of abortion has been returned to individual US state governments, making it one of the top issues in elections.

More than 70% of respondents in the Paradigm poll agreed that “personal financial transactions should generally be kept private, and only made available to government agencies when needed for specific purposes.” A similar number of people said it was “extremely important” or “very important” that they can pay for reproductive care without state or federal government oversight.

Leading the world

Based on the polling data, a majority of Democrats currently do not hold crypto, but digital assets were more popular among non-white voters. Roughly 80% of people surveyed also said it was either somewhat important, very important or extremely important that the US “leads the world in high-tech software innovations such as cryptocurrency and fintech.”

“This is a strong sign that, contrary to actions by some Biden Administration officials, Democratic voters want crypto innovation centered here in America,” said Paradigm. “It also should give Democratic Members of Congress and the Harris campaign confidence that Democratic voters want reasonable legislation passed crafting a regulatory regime for crypto.”

The results of the Paradigm poll came with 85 days until the US presidential election between Trump, Harris, and third-party candidates, including RFK Jr. As of Aug. 12, market prediction platform Polymarket showed Harris ahead of Trump in many battleground states, with a six-point advantage nationwide.

The introduction of Harris to the campaign trail has attracted the support of many Democrat-leaning crypto industry leaders and lawmakers. Many House of Representatives members, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, and SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci are scheduled to speak on Aug. 14 at a virtual town hall organized by the “Crypto Advocates for Harris” group.