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California Voters Stand with Crypto

TL;DR: New research shows that California voters believe crypto has a central role to play in improving our financial system and expanding economic opportunity. Skewing toward a younger, more progressive cohort of voters, the crypto constituency in California will play a meaningful role in the 2024 election season. 

  • 8.2 million California adults (or 27% of Californians) own digital assets, according to previous Morning Consult data.  

  • New polling by  Toluna shows that California crypto owners represent the next generation of California voters, with 40% falling between ages 18-34.

  • Polling also found that in California, crypto owners are almost equally likely to have an income above $75,000 and below $75,000.

By Coinbase

Policy

, February 9, 2024

, 3min read time

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California Voters are Embracing Crypto

Research conducted by Toluna on behalf of Coinbase highlights the ubiquity of crypto throughout California, and the growing pro-crypto constituency that wants to update the financial system.

According to Morning Consult, 27% of California adults, approximately 8.2 million, own digital assets. Crypto owners skew toward a younger, more progressive generation. 40% of California crypto owners are aged 18-34. They grew up during the internet age, and are comfortable adopting innovative technologies that make their lives easier. Across the country, only 7% of young people feel the financial system works well for people like them. They want to see innovation continue so that they can move their money efficiently and autonomously without being weighed down by legacy financial institutions that defined how their parents and grandparents managed their finances.  

Approximately 86% of California crypto owners agree that the global financial system needs to change, with almost 7 in 10 saying that the current system unfairly favors powerful interests and harms their ability to build wealth. To help solve these problems, voters are looking toward crypto. In California, 78% of crypto owners believe policymakers should be supporting new, innovative, and disruptive technologies, while 83% believe crypto and blockchain technology is an important economic tool for the future of finance. 77% believe crypto and blockchain are net positives for society, and 79% say crypto and blockchain can increase economic opportunities for Americans.   

Strong views on these issues are indicative of the growing focus on where candidates stand on technological innovation, in particular crypto, blockchain, and other economic tools. California crypto owners overwhelmingly report that they would be much more likely to support candidates that hold pro-crypto and blockchain positions. Almost 4 in 5 CA crypto owners say they would be more likely to support a candidate who supports the U.S. crypto industry as a job creator and source of U.S. geopolitical strength. They also would support candidates who say that a strong U.S. crypto industry will help future generations get ahead and increase access to wealth-building tools that the traditional financial system does not provide to many Americans. 

National crypto voters are party agnostic, more diverse than the population as a whole, and represent the working and middle class of America. Nationally, 75% of crypto owners have an income of less than $100K, and in California, crypto owners are equally likely to have incomes under $75K as over $75K.  

With a younger generation of crypto owners coming of voting age, it is increasingly important that candidates understand crypto and blockchain, and the opportunities a modernized financial system can bring to their constituents. Nationally, a majority (51%) of Millenials and Gen Z adults say they are likely to support crypto-friendly candidates in 2024. These voters will make up a vocal minority in the next election, and by 2028, younger voters will represent a majority of America’s voters.  

It’s Time to Update the System

It’s time for California policymakers to listen to their constituents’ calls to democratize an outdated financial system that isn’t serving them by embracing crypto and blockchain innovation. While much of the developed world advances crypto and blockchain innovation through fair, effective regulatory frameworks, a few key American policymakers are driving a regulation-by-enforcement approach that hinders American innovators and fails to protect consumers. 

Effective policies that create a strong regulatory framework for crypto oversight will serve to protect California consumers. Clear rules of the road will empower local entrepreneurs and innovators to pave the path forward for the next generation of financial technology in America, and open up access to new financial tools and resources that increase economic opportunity for everyone. Californians are prepared to stand with crypto by supporting policymakers who are willing to ensure that the United States sets the standard for the next generation of the internet, so it can continue leading the world’s financial future.

At Coinbase, we’re working hard to help update the financial system by building trusted products that expand the utility and adoption of crypto. We are focused on creating a financial system that reflects the principles we embrace at Coinbase: economic freedom, individual empowerment, financial opportunity, innovation, rule of law, and safety and security. Coinbase was founded in the U.S. and became a public company in the U.S., because we believe our values align with those of the American people, and Americans want crypto. Importantly, we will continue to build in international markets, because many of them are moving forward with strategies to become “crypto hubs.” But America can’t fall asleep at the wheel. Congress and other policymakers should take note that crypto voters are engaged in their states and they want rules, not an unpredictable regulation-by-enforcement approach. 

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