A recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll found that former President Donald Trump’s outreach to crypto owners is paying off this 2024 U.S. Presidential election season.
It appears Trump’s embrace of cryptocurrency is paying off. The FDU poll revealed that Trump holds a significant lead among voters who own crypto or related assets, outpacing Vice President Kamala Harris by 12 percentage points in the 2024 U.S. Presidential race.
The poll shows that 50% of likely voters who own crypto backed Trump, compared to 38% who support Harris. Conversely, among non-crypto owners, Harris leads by 12 points, garnering 53% support to Trump’s 41%.
The FDU Poll also revealed that 15% of all registered voters in the U.S. have owned crypto, NFTs, or similar digital products. This group is disproportionately composed of men, younger voters, and members of racial minority groups.
Interestingly, while Republicans are slightly more likely to own crypto than Democrats, the difference does not fully account for the 24-point swing in presidential support between crypto owners and non-owners, according to the poll.
Crypto in the driver’s seat this election season
During this election season, both parties have catered to the crypto crowd, aiming to appeal to the crypto community and its financial contributions. The support among crypto owners indicates the increasing influence of digital assets in American politics.
“Trump has been reaching out to the crypto community, and it seems to have paid off. It might be easy to dismiss them as insignificant, but I don’t think people realize exactly how widespread crypto ownership is.”
Executive Director of the poll Professor Dan Cassino.
Trump has not shied away from expressing a pro-crypto sentiment during his most recent campaign trail. Trump’s stance on crypto is in stark contrast to his earlier criticism, in which he famously labeled cryptocurrencies a “scam” in a 2021 interview.
However, during this election cycle, Trump said he would embrace crypto in his next presidential term. “Crypto is moving out of the U.S. because of hostility toward it. I don’t want that. If we are going to embrace it, we will have to let them be here,” he said in a recent rally.
Trump’s strategy to court the cryptocurrency community has been evident in recent months. In July, he delivered a keynote address at Bitcoin2024 in Nashville, where he expressed strong support for the Bitcoin (BTC) mining industry despite concerns about its environmental impact.
On Aug. 29, Trump announced plans to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” if re-elected, hinting at an initiative led by his sons called World Liberty Financial. While details are limited, the project reportedly focuses on real-world asset tokenization.
On May 21, The Trump campaign introduced a fundraising page that accepts donations in any cryptocurrency available on the Coinbase platform.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats, led by Harris’s campaign team, launched the Crypto4Harris initiative in early August to engage with the crypto community and counter Republican efforts to attract crypto voters. The campaign aims to develop a pro-crypto policy framework to repair Harris’s relationship with the crypto industry.
As the 2024 Presidential election approaches, Trump’s crypto support may be crucial in swaying undecided voters, particularly among demographics that have traditionally leaned toward the Democratic Party.