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Roughly one in five US adults has now owned or used cryptocurrency, but steady use has not followed, according to Decrypt’s report on a national survey by Ipsos for the DeFi Education Fund. The poll found 22% of adults have ever owned or used crypto, against 18% in 2025, while the share who used it in the past 12 months stayed at 13%.
Decrypt reported that most of the increase came from people who have since walked away: among Americans who had not used crypto in the past year, the share who had ever owned or used it more than doubled, to 11% from 5%. The survey polled 1,545 adults from Sept. 8 to 16 using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
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Key facts
- 22% of US adults have ever owned or used crypto, up from 18% in 2025; past-year use held flat at 13%, per Decrypt.
- 17% say they are likely to own or use crypto in the future, compared with 16% a year earlier.
- Only 19% describe the financial system as secure, while 63% say it needs an upgrade to address threats such as AI and cybercrime.
- 4% report high trust in crypto exchanges and 5% in decentralized platforms, against 42% for large national banks and 48% for credit unions.
- 2% say they are very familiar with DeFi, though 40% would be at least somewhat likely to try it.
Curiosity, not conviction
Men were more than twice as likely as women to have used crypto in the past year, 18% to 8%, and adults under 60 were far more likely to have used it than older Americans. Curiosity was the top reason people tried it, cited by 34% of those who have owned crypto, followed by long-term investment at 25%.
Knowledge remains thin. Only 6% could identify all four characteristics of crypto listed in the survey, and 35% were unsure how to describe it. Interest in learning is also slipping: the share who want to learn about stablecoins fell to 7% from 11%, and about DeFi to 8% from 11%, even after the GENIUS Act set federal rules for stablecoins.
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Trust gap and a political problem
Crypto Briefing added details Decrypt did not carry. It reported that 9% of respondents described themselves as very or extremely familiar with crypto, and that the results were released on Oct. 27, 2026, weeks before the US midterm elections.
Crypto Briefing also reported a messaging split: support for candidates who emphasize innovative financial technology stood at 35%, but fell to 13% when the question named blockchain, crypto and DeFi — a 22-point drop caused by the wording alone. Crypto Briefing noted that the DeFi Education Foundation is an advocacy group with an interest in highlighting openness to DeFi, while the flat active-use figure and low trust cut against the industry’s preferred narrative.
Decrypt also reported that a suspected $87 million drain involved hardware wallets sold by a Southeast Asian reseller, according to wallet maker Ledger, and that Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake warned AI advances could break the cryptography securing Bitcoin and Ethereum sooner than expected. Privacy matters to 74% of respondents, and 54% doubt major financial institutions are ready to protect personal data from AI-driven threats.
Why it matters
The survey separates trying crypto from relying on it. Adoption by lifetime exposure is rising, yet the pool of regular users has not grown, which matters for exchanges and apps whose revenue depends on repeat activity rather than sign-ups. Low trust in exchanges and decentralized platforms also limits how far curiosity converts into deposits, particularly for DeFi, where 40% express willingness but only 2% know the sector well.
What to watch
The next edition of the survey will show whether past-year use moves off 13% and whether trust in decentralized platforms climbs from 5%. The survey was published with US midterms approaching, and how candidates frame financial technology will be tested at the ballot box.
Sources: Decrypt, Crypto Briefing
