Paradigm Policy Market Mapping Exercise Spring 2025

Who is the crypto user?

Crypto is undoubtedly having a political moment. Policymakers finally understand its global impact: Visa notes that stablecoins have seen $4 trillion in onchain transaction volume over the last 30 days. More than two-thirds of TradFi firms are looking at DeFi. And earlier this month, Bitcoin ETFs hit a cumulative trading volume of over $1 trillion, a milestone achieved in less than 18 months.

And we are making substantial progress toward regulatory clarity. The Senate passed the GENIUS Act by a supermajority, moving us closer to a regulatory regime for payment stablecoins. The House is deep in the process of marking up a market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, with likely passage by the fall. And regulatory agencies from the CFTC to Treasury are providing real clarity on how firms can access, issue, and trade crypto products.

But political progress is downstream of regular Americans demanding change, which they did en masse in the last election through groups like Stand with Crypto. Who are they? Why do they own crypto? How important is crypto to them?

To answer these questions, we conducted an extensive market mapping survey, surveying only crypto users in the United States to dive deep into their politics, consumer preferences, opinions, and anxiety about the world. What we found was both expected and unexpected: crypto owners are more active than ever. They voraciously read the news and pay attention to developments around the world. They were deliberate and thoughtful in their decision to buy crypto, and they are ready to make their voices heard. (See below for methodology.)

Crypto owners are diverse and cross the political spectrum in surprising ways

Crypto owners defy political stereotypes.

• In terms of party affiliation, 37% are GOP and 36% are Democrats, with 24% considering themselves independents.
• 31% identify as liberal, 29% identify as conservative, and 37% identify as moderate.
• 64% of owners are men, and 36% are women.

62% of owners are white, 19% are black, 21% are Hispanic, 7% are Asian, and 4% are Native American, Hawaiian, or Alaskan (Respondents were able to choose multiple races and ethnicities).

Owning crypto is significant to many owners’ identities; this is a culture as much as it is an industry

Crypto is key to people’s identity in surprising ways. This is not a group that is shy about their interest in this industry, though many hesitate to discuss crypto unless they're confident the other person is genuinely interested in the topic.

• Of those surveyed, 28% stated that the crypto assets they own or have owned says a lot about who they are, while 31% said that their crypto assets say a little about who they are (collectively 59%). Just 34% said the crypto assets they own don’t say much about them. As a comparison, 67% said the jewelry or watch they wear said a lot or a little about who they are, and 72% said the car they drive said a little or a lot about who they are.
• Among respondents, 29% said that “being someone who owns crypto is important to me” was a major reason they owned crypto.
• 24% of owners are happy to bring up crypto in conversations, with another 16% saying they “enjoy explaining crypto” when someone else brings it up, and 23% saying they discuss it with people who show genuine interest.
• Among those who say crypto says a lot about who they are, 45% of crypto users report that they are happy to bring up crypto in conversation.

Crypto owners are highly diverse in their media consumption

Crypto owners consume media from a broad array of sources.

• A majority of owners, 56%, say they typically encounter news or information about crypto from social media, and 50% say they encounter such news from YouTube. These numbers are consistent for conservatives, liberals, and moderates, but vary greatly by age: 66% of those 18-22 say they get their crypto news from social media, but just 33% of those 61 and older do.
• 35% of crypto owners typically get news or information from crypto industry news outlets (such as CoinDesk or Bankless). This figure rises to 40% for Republicans but falls to 29% for independents. For Democratic crypto owners, 35% typically get news from crypto industry outlets.
• 30% of crypto owners get their news from mainstream news outlets online or in print. This figure is consistent for all ideologies, with 32% of liberals, 31% of conservatives, and 29% of moderate owners marking this response.
• 27% of crypto owners typically encounter crypto news or information from podcasts. This figure rises to 29% for conservatives, but is 26% for moderates and 25% for liberals.
• Just 20% of crypto owners say they typically get crypto news and information from financial advisors, but 22% get it from AI platforms like ChatGPT, 27% from family and friends whose opinions they value, and 42% from search engines like Google.
• 22% of crypto owners typically get crypto news or information from group chats or servers like Discord and Telegram. This number rises to 27% of college graduate owners and 31% of those who hold a graduate degree, but amounts to just 19% of those who didn’t graduate from college.

Crypto owners are optimistic risk-takers

Crypto owners are at base optimistic risk takers. In owning crypto, they are protecting themselves from market risk, inflation, and even from government overreach.

• 69% of crypto owners said they strongly (31%) or somewhat (37%) agreed with the statement that “I am someone who doesn’t mind a big risk.”
• This carries over to respondents’ view of crypto. 62% of respondents said they were either extremely optimistic (33%) or very optimistic (29%) that crypto will contribute to a positive future for the world. 10% said they were either not very optimistic or not at all optimistic, with 4% of respondents choosing the latter.
• Notably, there was less optimism about the idea that blockchain technology will contribute to a positive future for the world, with 48% saying they were extremely optimistic or very optimistic, and 14% saying they were not very optimistic or not at all optimistic.
• Users also worry about overregulation of crypto, with 62% very or somewhat concerned.

Most crypto owners hold a substantial amount of crypto, and for some it represents a notable percentage of their net worth

Crypto owners are all-in. 33% of crypto owners have 25% or more of their net worth in crypto. 46% of crypto owners own more than $5000 in crypto.

• Of those surveyed who currently own crypto, 56% have more than 10% of their net worth in crypto, with 17% having more than 50% of their net worth in crypto.
• Among men and women under 40, 18-19% have more than half of their net worth in crypto.
• Among liberals, 19% had more than half of their net worth in crypto; among conservatives, 20% had more than half of their net worth in crypto; and among moderates, 13% had more than half of their net worth in crypto.
• Among Harris voters, 30% had more than a quarter of their total net worth in crypto. Among Trump voters, 37% had more than a quarter of their total net worth in crypto.
• In this poll, about 46% of those surveyed voted for Trump in 2024, with 33% voting for Harris.
• Among those who voted, 42% said crypto policy was extremely or very important when deciding who to vote for: 20% said crypto policy was “extremely important” when deciding who to vote for in 2024, 22% said it was very important, and 21% said it was somewhat important, with 20% saying it was not at all important.
• Trump won the voters who said crypto policy was “extremely important” 48-34%.

Most crypto owners are just Bitcoin or Ether owners

Many crypto owners only own BTC and/or ETH, but a decent minority own memecoins. Notably, the biggest year for people first buying crypto was 2020, but interest has remained higher than pre-pandemic ever since. And yes, the example of the American who got a crypto account before they got a bank account is real.

• 79% of those who currently or previously own crypto have bought Bitcoin, while 42% have bought Ethereum, and 30% have bought USDC. All other tokens are owned by less than 20% of respondents, including Tether and Solana (both at 17%).
• 37% of crypto owners have only bought Bitcoin and Ethereum, and 54% of owners have only both BTC, ETH, and/or stablecoins.
• This skews heavily by age: 63% of respondents aged 61 and older own crypto exclusively in the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or stablecoins, compared to just 50% of those aged 23 to 28.
• Despite most people not owning them, 56% of crypto owners have a very positive (24%) or somewhat positive view of memecoins like Dogecoin. 15% have a very negative (5%) or somewhat negative (9%) view of memecoins. 20% of crypto owners have heard of memcoins but say they have no opinion of them.
• 20% of crypto owners first bought in 2020, including 20% of men and 21% of women owners.
• We asked whether respondents first had a checking or savings account, a Venmo or PayPal account, or crypto. 10% said they had crypto first, including 12% of those 18-22. 72% said they had a checking or savings account first, and 17% said they had a Venmo or PayPal Account first.
• 42% of respondents said they had used crypto to make a payment for goods and services, with this figure rising to 48% of male respondents under 40.
• Since then, each year has seen significant new crypto owners, with 11% of owners buying in 2021, 13% in 2022, 12% in 2023, 10% in 2024, and 3% so far in 2025.

Other notable facts regarding crypto owners

• Crypto owners are avid gamers, with 88% playing video games at least monthly and a majority (52%) gaming at least once a day.
• Crypto users spend significant time in-person with their family and friends. 69% report spending time in-person with their parents at least once a month, and 63% spend time in-person with their close friends at least once a week.
• Crypto owners also attend religious services with some regularity, with 46% attending religious services at least monthly and 34% attending at least weekly and 5% attending daily.
• The vast majority (83%) of crypto owners exercise or go to the gym at least monthly, with 31% doing so at least once a day.
• A majority of crypto owners (57%) meditate at least once a week, with 71% doing so at least once a month.
• In terms of highest educational attainment, 33% either finished high school or did not complete it, 17% had some college attendance but did not gain a degree, 11% have an associate degree, 24% have a bachelor’s degree, and 14% have a graduate degree.
• 68% are currently employed full-time and 8% are employed part-time. Another 3% are in freelance or temporary work, and 1% are in “gig economy” work like ride shares, food delivery, or dogwalking. 3% are a stay-at-home parent or caregiver, 5% are retired, 2% are full-time students, and 7% are unemployed and looking for work.
• 95% of crypto owners in the survey were born in the United States, 1% were born in a U.S. territory or abroad to citizen parents, and 4% were born in a foreign country.
• 77% of crypto owners have a pet, 77% of crypto owners own a gaming console, 86% of crypto owners own a car, and 32% of crypto owners own a gun.
• A majority either strongly agree (23%) or somewhat agree (28%) with the statement that “the economy is rigged against people like me.” Approximately a quarter strongly disagree (10%) or somewhat disagree (14%).
• While approximately six in ten strongly agree (26%) or somewhat agree (33%) that “government regulation does more harm than good,” over seven in ten also strongly agree (42%) or somewhat agree (29%) that “the wealthy should have to pay a lot more in taxes.”

Note on methodology: The survey was fielded online by Echelon from May 7–28, 2025 in English among a sample of 4,000 crypto users using non-probability sampling, and the margin of error was 1.7%.

The sample was weighted to reflect demographic characteristics of the population of crypto users based on Echelon Insight’s Consumer Omnibus surveys from 2024 and 2025, which ask U.S. adults about current or past crypto use. Among a U.S. adult sample size of N=6,108, a subset of N=1,282 were Crypto Users. Weighting dimensions derived from this subset included gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, region, party, and income.