Key Takeaways
- • Some 22% of U.S. adults have ever owned or used crypto, up from 18% in 2025, but past-year use held flat at 13%, according to an Ipsos survey commissioned by the DeFi Education Fund.
- • Growth in lifetime crypto use came almost entirely from lapsed users, whose ever-use rose to 11% from 5%, while 17% say they are likely to own or use crypto in the future versus 16% last year.
- • Only 4% of Americans have high trust in crypto exchanges and 5% in decentralized platforms, compared with 42% for large national banks and 48% for credit unions.
- • Only 2% are very familiar with DeFi, though 40% say they would be at least somewhat likely to try it, and interest in learning about stablecoins fell to 7% from 11%.
Summary
A national survey conducted by Ipsos for the DeFi Education Fund, a crypto policy advocacy group, finds that more Americans have tried crypto than a year earlier but few remain active users. Some 22% of U.S. adults say they have ever owned or used crypto, up from 18% in 2025. Past-year usage, however, held flat at 13%. According to the report, the growth came almost entirely from people who have stepped away from the asset class: among those 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%.
Forward-looking demand is also flat. Some 17% say they are likely to own or use crypto in the future, compared with 16% last year. 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 leading reason for trying crypto, cited by 34% of past owners, followed by long-term investment at 25%.
The survey, which polled 1,545 adults from Sept. 8 to 16 on Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, reports a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. It also documents broad skepticism toward the traditional financial system: only 19% of Americans consider it secure, and 63% say it needs an upgrade to counter threats such as cybercrime and AI. Six in 10 worry about data breaches at major institutions, and 54% doubt those institutions are ready to protect personal information from AI-driven threats.
That skepticism has not translated into trust in crypto. Just 4% report high trust in crypto exchanges and 5% in decentralized platforms. Credit unions led institutional trust at 48%, down 5 points from last year. Security concerns extend beyond banks: crypto wallet maker Ledger said all confirmed cases in a suspected $87 million drain involved hardware wallets sold by a Southeast Asian reseller, and Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake recently warned that advances in AI could break the cryptography securing Bitcoin and Ethereum sooner than expected.
Knowledge gaps remain wide. Only 2% of Americans are very familiar with DeFi, and just 6% could identify all four characteristics of crypto listed in the survey, while 35% were unsure how to describe it. Still, 40% say they would be at least somewhat likely to try DeFi if available, and more than 8 in 10 of those would use it to save money, earn interest or send money to family and friends. Interest in learning more is slipping, with the share wanting to learn about stablecoins falling to 7% from 11% and about DeFi to 8% from 11%, even after the GENIUS Act set federal rules for stablecoins.
Forward-looking demand is also flat. Some 17% say they are likely to own or use crypto in the future, compared with 16% last year. 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 leading reason for trying crypto, cited by 34% of past owners, followed by long-term investment at 25%.
The survey, which polled 1,545 adults from Sept. 8 to 16 on Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, reports a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. It also documents broad skepticism toward the traditional financial system: only 19% of Americans consider it secure, and 63% say it needs an upgrade to counter threats such as cybercrime and AI. Six in 10 worry about data breaches at major institutions, and 54% doubt those institutions are ready to protect personal information from AI-driven threats.
That skepticism has not translated into trust in crypto. Just 4% report high trust in crypto exchanges and 5% in decentralized platforms. Credit unions led institutional trust at 48%, down 5 points from last year. Security concerns extend beyond banks: crypto wallet maker Ledger said all confirmed cases in a suspected $87 million drain involved hardware wallets sold by a Southeast Asian reseller, and Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake recently warned that advances in AI could break the cryptography securing Bitcoin and Ethereum sooner than expected.
Knowledge gaps remain wide. Only 2% of Americans are very familiar with DeFi, and just 6% could identify all four characteristics of crypto listed in the survey, while 35% were unsure how to describe it. Still, 40% say they would be at least somewhat likely to try DeFi if available, and more than 8 in 10 of those would use it to save money, earn interest or send money to family and friends. Interest in learning more is slipping, with the share wanting to learn about stablecoins falling 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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