U.S. voters rank cryptocurrencies near the bottom of their priorities for the 2026 midterm election, with artificial intelligence registering only slightly higher, according to a late-April survey by Public Opinion Strategies conducted for CoinDesk. Just 1% of the 1,000 randomly selected registered voters named crypto as their single most important issue, while 2% said the same of AI, underscoring that pocketbook and social safety net concerns continue to eclipse emerging technologies in the campaign conversation.

Survey snapshot

The poll, fielded near the end of April and evenly split between Republican and Democrat identifiers (41% each), carries a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.53%. While crypto is not literally on the ballot, the results arrive as the industry keeps close watch on who will control Congress and which technology issues will get legislative attention. The market structure bill known as the Clarity Act is described as a top priority and still has a path to passage before year’s end, though it has progressed more slowly than advocates expected and faces additional hurdles. Other proposals, including anticipated tax changes affecting digital assets, are also seen as likely to surface in the months ahead.

Campaign money underscores why these perceptions matter. In the run-up to November, industry-aligned groups have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to support candidates viewed as friendly to crypto, after the sector was the single largest donor industry in the 2024 cycle. Spending has come through political action committees, including Fairshake, a Solana Policy Institute–backed PAC, and a newer $11 million PAC that booked major ad buys with a firm started by Tether’s U.S. chief executive, according to CoinDesk’s reporting referenced in the survey summary.

AI integration

Though AI is not the centerpiece of voter concerns, it registers slightly above crypto as a top issue and draws a notably more balanced public reaction. The survey reports a 46% favorable and 45% unfavorable view of artificial intelligence overall—numbers that outpace crypto’s favorability and suggest that voters may be separating AI’s perceived utility from the controversies often associated with digital assets. In the political context, both technologies sit within a broader conversation about innovation, jobs, and risk management, but the gap in favorability indicates voters are approaching the two issues differently.

For the crypto sector, this differential matters because AI increasingly appears alongside blockchain in public debates about market integrity, consumer protection, and national competitiveness. While the poll does not measure specific applications, the pairing shows up in policy discourse: lawmakers weigh questions about how AI tools might be used in surveillance for illicit finance, how automation intersects with market structure, and how both technologies fit within tax and disclosure rules. The survey’s finding that AI draws marginally more top-of-mind attention than crypto hints at where voter education campaigns may concentrate as the industry explains its technology stack and operating practices.

Market impact

Voters’ broad priorities remain clear. The top responses for “single most important issue” were the cost of living (36%), jobs and the economy (13%), and Social Security and Medicare (11%). Issues such as immigration and border security, healthcare, national security, and government spending drew single-digit shares. Against that backdrop, crypto placed at the bottom, with interest most concentrated among respondents leaning Republican. AI’s 2% result places it just above crypto, further reinforcing that economic stress dominates the cycle even as technology questions simmer.

The political map adds another layer. As of press time, the most likely configuration described in the survey narrative is a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, with the Senate more likely to remain under Republican control. A generic ballot question in the same poll showed Democrats at 44% and Republicans at 41%. External indicators referenced in the write-up show prediction markets marking the Senate at an even split and nonpartisan race ratings suggesting a difficult path for Democrats to claim that chamber. The same survey shows U.S. President Donald Trump with a net negative job rating—40% somewhat or strongly approving and 60% disapproving—another data point shaping how campaigns calibrate their messages on the economy and technology.

Technology use case

The survey does not enumerate technical deployments, but its side-by-side treatment of AI and crypto speaks to how these fields are increasingly discussed together in market structure debates. In industry conversations, AI is frequently described as a toolkit that can be applied to digital asset markets: for example, to assist in monitoring transaction patterns, inform trading strategies, or help analyze on-chain data for compliance. Conversely, crypto and blockchain are often described as the infrastructure layer that records activity and enforces rules, with policy choices determining how data can be analyzed and what guardrails apply. The survey’s numbers suggest voters may be open to messages that differentiate between these roles, even if they are not prioritizing them above immediate household financial pressures.

DeFi—described in the poll as finance on the blockchain—remains less familiar terrain to the electorate. Only 60% of respondents reported having heard of it, and just 17% said they held a favorable view. By comparison, crypto as a whole earned a 30% favorability rating, lower than that of Republicans (39%) or Democrats (43%). AI’s near-even split on favorability further highlights how the public narrative around “new tech” is fragmented, with awareness and sentiment varying widely by subcategory.

Industry response

Engagement with digital assets is present but not dominant. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they had invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency. Another 27% had not but might in the future. Among those with holdings, 2% reported more than $10,000 in digital assets, 9% reported between $1,001 and $10,000, and 12% reported $1,000 or less. The politically active segment shows stronger exposure: of those “much more interested” in the 2026 election than in 2022, 49% reported owning $1,000 or more in crypto.

Perceptions of party alignment are mixed. Forty-seven percent said Republicans are more supportive of cryptocurrencies, compared with 14% who said Democrats are. Yet trust splits differently: 27% said they trust Democrats more on crypto, 25% said Republicans, and 40% said neither. Roughly 40% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who shares their views on crypto, though the survey did not specify whether those views are positive or negative. The disconnect between perceived support and trust suggests voters are separating policy posture from governance confidence—an important distinction for campaigns that discuss AI and crypto together under the banner of technology policy.

Finally, when asked directly about crypto’s importance for 2026, 3% labeled it the “single most” important issue and another 22% called it important—evidence of growing awareness even if it trails economic concerns. CoinDesk plans to release additional data from this survey on Tuesday at Consensus Miami, extending a series that tracks how voters are weighing crypto and, to a lesser degree, AI as midterm campaigning intensifies.