US voters don’t trust Trump administration to oversee crypto sector, CoinDesk poll finds

Most voters in the US are not comfortable with President Donald Trump’s hand on the wheel of crypto industry oversight, with 62% saying they don’t trust his administration on that point, according to a survey commissioned by CoinDesk.

After the previous administration’s crackdown on crypto, Trump’s promise to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” has sparked hope in the sector. The president has deployed his White House to pave a broad path toward friendly crypto regulation. His administration named a high-profile crypto czar, issued executive orders to outline an industry agenda, named regulators who promised to support friendly new rules and backed legislation to create the first major US crypto law.

However, the trend in the poll seems to show that Trump’s broader political popularity outside of crypto has been steadily declining, and his approval rating among US voters is falling, with this latest poll putting it at 40%.

This article is part of a CoinDesk series on voters’ views for the 2026 midterm elections.

Almost half of respondents (45%) are also aware that the president and his family have built up a lucrative personal stake in the crypto industry, which includes partial ownership and control of World Liberty Financial and other digital asset interests. The poll revealed that 73% of the public opposes its senior government officials – without identifying any in particular – having personal business dealings in the industry.

While Republicans are the most flexible on that point, a strong 59% majority of GOP voters can’t stand those kinds of ties either.

However, most people do not know the extent of Trump’s financial involvement, with only 17% of respondents aware that he and his sons supported the launch of World Liberty. Although the Trumps have many irons in crypto fires, World Liberty has attracted special attention for a number of potential conflicts and controversies.

The online survey conducted last week was evenly split between voters who supported Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, so a large majority of respondents doubting his administration’s crypto capabilities appears to show a shift since 2024 in the sentiment of some of Trump’s voters.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesperson for World Liberty responded to the poll data with a statement that Trump “promised to make the United States the crypto capital of the world, and World Liberty wholeheartedly supports this vision.”

“The president has consistently delivered on his promise to ensure that one of the most important technological breakthroughs of the century develops and thrives in America,” the company spokesperson said.

Aside from people’s thoughts on Trump and government officials’ involvement in crypto, the survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted by research firm Public Opinion Strategies delved into perceptions of crypto and voters’ intentions in this year’s elections, revealing that most maintain a distrust — or at best, an uncertainty — about the economy and politics in their economy and politics. The public opinion snapshot carries a “credibility interval” of about 3.5%, which represents the statistical uncertainty of the survey’s results.

The crypto industry has had a delicate relationship with the president, delighted by his regulatory appointments and policy choices, but quietly weathering his own business involvement in the sector, which has brought a host of challenges in lobbying for crypto legislation. The crypto world’s biggest goal in Washington is to get a new law formalizing US regulation of the industry, but Trump’s political opponents argue that this favors his own interests. The current effort is known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and while Trump’s White House has been one of its major boosters, its own crypto ties may stand in the way.

The Clarity Act has already passed the US House of Representatives and remains a few steps away in the Senate, but one of the final sticking points is a Democratic request that it include a ban on the kind of personal crypto ties that CoinDesk’s poll found most people oppose. The provision to block senior officials from crypto interests was clearly on Trump’s mind when lawmakers asked for it, and bipartisan talks about its potential form have spanned months and included back-and-forth exchanges of language ideas in recent days.

In previous efforts, White House officials have said they would not stand for a bill targeting the president or his family members. It is unclear how the final version will avoid affecting Trump while also meeting Democrats’ expectations that it avoids government conflicts of interest.

The bill will need plenty of Democrats if it is expected to eventually win the 60 votes usually needed for legislation to win Senate approval.

Last weekend, President Trump spoke at an event for several hundred of the top investors in his self-branded memecoin $TRUMP. There he assured the crowd that the US is the “leader in crypto”. He also told them the assets had “become mainstream.”

According to the CoinDesk survey, the industry has only become a regular part of the lives of a small segment of the population — not quite mainstream. And most haven’t embraced the industry’s main political booster, Trump, as an industry watchdog they’re ready to trust.

CoinDesk will release data from this survey on Tuesday at Consensus Miami.