72% of Americans Want Pro-Fintech Candidates, DeFi Education Fund Poll Shows

Seventy-two percent of Americans surveyed want political candidates who back policies encouraging financial technology built in the United States, according to a poll released Tuesday by the DeFi Education Fund and Ipsos.

The survey of 1,545 people, conducted in September, offers an early read on whether fintech and digital asset policy could move voters when they cast ballots in the 2026 midterm elections, roughly two months after the fieldwork closed.

The numbers break down unevenly. Thirty-five percent of respondents rated it "very" or "extremely" important that candidates support "ensuring that those who are building the next generation of financial technology are encouraged to do so in the United States." Another 37% called the issue "somewhat important" — enough to push total support to 72%.

How deep does crypto literacy actually run?

Beneath the headline figure, the poll shows a population still far removed from digital assets. Only 9% of respondents said they were familiar with crypto, and just 5% claimed familiarity with stablecoins.

Ownership is thinner still. Eighty-seven percent said they had not held any digital assets in the previous 12 months, leaving 13% as active or recent holders over that window.

Attitudes toward decentralized finance specifically track that same low-engagement pattern. Only 13% said it was "very" or "extremely" important for a candidate to encourage growth in blockchain, crypto and DeFi — a fraction that mirrors the ownership figure almost exactly.

Ipsos noted continuity rather than change in the trend line. "Ownership of crypto and openness to DeFi are largely consistent with 2025, and interest looks consistent across party lines," the firm said.

Why the midterms are the immediate test

The poll landed about two months before Americans vote on the next session of Congress in the 2026 midterms, contests where crypto policy and legislation could play a role at the ballot box.

The spending backdrop is already set. Political action committees backed by crypto companies have poured tens of millions of dollars into attempts to influence voters in key races, according to the poll's release context.

For the DeFi Education Fund, the data cuts two ways. Broad, bipartisan appetite for US-built financial technology gives industry advocates a messaging opening with candidates in both parties. But the gap between the 72% who favor pro-fintech politicians and the 9% who say they know crypto means that support is soft — attached to general industrial-policy sentiment rather than to digital assets themselves.

That distinction matters for how campaigns allocate their money. PACs betting on crypto-specific messaging must first close a familiarity gap that the poll puts in the low single digits for stablecoins, while candidates can plausibly run on fintech-friendly platforms without ever mentioning blockchain.

The sector's near-term legislative agenda — from market-structure bills to stablecoin rules — will face its first electoral filter in November 2026, when voter sentiment measured in this poll gets tested against actual ballot-box behavior.