Tl;dr: Nearly nine in ten Americans believe it is time to update the financial system, but progress is being slowed by resistance of those in power who embrace the status quo: outdated systems that limit economic freedom and opportunity for everyday Americans. Today we’re launching an effort to mobilize 52 million crypto owners – younger and more diverse than the US population as a whole – into a powerful force heading into the 2024 elections with an intense focus on nine key states. If you care about crypto, take one minute to call your congressperson.

It’s time to challenge the status quo by updating the system

Earlier this year, Coinbase undertook research to understand the attitudes of Americans toward the financial system. It found that people overwhelmingly want change. Nearly nine in ten (87%) Americans believe the financial system needs changing and half (51%) of Americans believe that America’s financial system does not work fairly for everyone. Most perceive the system as benefiting anyone but people like themselves, and only 14% are optimistic about the future of the financial system.¹

Prior research reinforces their attitudes in benefiting from the underlying democratizing power of blockchain technology:

• 63% of crypto owners agree that the system unfairly favors powerful interests²

• In bellwether states like Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania, more than 40% of those who own digital assets do so to remit money across borders to help family members pay for food, housing and health care for far less than what banks and wire services typically charge³

• 72% of 18-34s believe “crypto gives people direct control over their money” and 72% agree that “digital assets are the future of finance”⁴

When it comes to using blockchain technology to help make our financial system more open, more participatory, and more democratic, the status quo is relying on an “enforcement only” approach to keep in place a financial system that the vast majority of the people want changed. While a growing number of elected officials in Congress are advocating for legislation to regulate crypto and drive progress in the financial system, others are simply choosing to protect the status quo. And in a democracy, the will of the people can drive progress.

52 million Americans matter

The reality is that right now in America, 1 in 5 adults own crypto – it’s a group 52 million Americans strong. To help give this raw number context:

Not only is this a large absolute number, it’s a group of Americans that will drive future cultural, political and economic trends. Crypto owners are working and middle class, younger, and more diverse than the population as a whole.

Polling in the fall of 2022 showed that in the key states of NH, NV, OH, and PA, over half (55%) of voters stated that they would be less likely to vote for candidates who oppose crypto and web3⁷.  For comparison, in 2020 61% of Americans voted for Joe Biden for President.

To update the financial system and move beyond the status quo, crypto needs clear regulation

Crypto needs clear, sensible legislation. The current “enforcement only” approach puts jobs, innovation, and global leadership at risk.

Countries from around the world are increasingly moving forward with responsible crypto-forward regulatory frameworks to strategically position themselves as “crypto hubs” – attracting new innovative companies, jobs and revenue. In March, Electric Capital’s developer report found that the US is at risk of losing out on one million developer jobs and three million related non-technical jobs over the next seven years as web3 development increasingly moves overseas.

Crypto plays a critical role as an underlying technology that will update the global financial system. With China embracing and advancing the use of technology, including digital assets, to project power, US global economic leadership and national security are at risk if the US cedes its role in building technology that will be central to the world’s financial infrastructure. 87% of surveyed F500 executives indicate clear rules are vital for sustaining U.S. leadership in the global financial system and 46% of surveyed F500 executives count regulatory murkiness as a barrier to investment.⁸

The best first step toward clear, sensible legislation is the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (“FIT21”), which offers a strong regulatory framework providing clear definitions, consumer protections, and a path for regulation that does not stifle innovation. The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act has passed the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, with support across party lines – and it is anticipated that it will come to the House floor for a vote this fall.

It’s time for Congress to hear from the 52 million Americans who own crypto

We’re asking more than 52 million crypto owners⁸ and advocates to use their voices to stand with crypto. The Stand with Crypto Alliance is doing this through a 14 month long campaign that will have three elements:

• Leveraging the Coinbase platform to mobilize crypto owners into single issue crypto advocates. Since Stand with Crypto formed just a few weeks ago, more than 100,000 people have already taken action via Stand with Crypto’s decentralized app (which can be accessed through the Coinbase app).

• A comprehensive paid media campaign across all platforms, including the launch today of digital and outdoor advertisements in Washington, DC to showcase what will be distributed nationally.

• The campaign will have a specific focus on nine key states that also over-index when it comes to the number of crypto owners, including on the ground organizing with full time field organizers, in key states. Over the last several weeks, Stand with Crypto has hosted successful events in Ohio, Nevada, Georgia and Montana, that have road tested the capacity to organize crypto advocates. The overall mobilization effort of the 52 million Americans who own crypto will include an intense focus on the following states: AZ, CA, GA, IL, NH, NV, OH, PA, and WI. While we will share more on the individual states, in Georgia we will seek to build a club of crypto of at least 11,779 members.

Today we kick off this effort by rallying the collective energy of the community, and taking the fight off X (formerly known as Twitter) and on to the phones. The campaign will encourage crypto owners and supporters to take one minute of their day to call their member of Congress and ask them to pass clear, sensible legislation.

It’s incredibly easy for them to make their voices heard. A ‘call maker’ uses innovative technology that will seamlessly connect people to their Members of Congress directly from media and provides a tailored script to help guide their conversation.

In DC, paid media and IRL events will show the size and shape of crypto owners. On September 27, there will be a Stand with Crypto Day where innovators, entrepreneurs, and developers from around the country will fly into DC to be public advocates with Members of Congress and government officials. They will explain how crypto is creating jobs and economic activity in their home states – and just how important it is for the US not to pursue an enforcement only approach that is driving jobs, innovation, and leadership out of the US. Each of these crypto public advocates has made the decision to stay in the US and use the underlying technology of the blockchain to update our financial system.

Stand with Crypto’s goal is to mobilize one million people, but imagine what it would look like if we could mobilize even 10% of America’s 52M crypto owners into single issue advocates – that would be a game changer in standing up to the status quo and advocating for policies that update our financial systems so it is more fair, more distributed, and more inclusive.

If you care about crypto, take one minute to call your congressperson.

¹ Coinbase Survey of 1000 US Adults. Research conducted by Bovitz, Inc. on behalf of Coinbase, June 2023. ² U.S. Crypto Investor Research. Research conducted by Impact Research on behalf of Coinbase (Q2’23). ³ Morning Consult, November 2022 ⁴ Morning Consult, December 2021 ⁵ Gallup, March 2023; Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2023; Zippia, June 2023; Federal Reserve, 2021; US Census, July 2022; World Bank, 2023; Pro Football Reference, 2023 ⁶ The Crypto Report, Morning Consult, July 2022; US Cryptocurrency Perception Study, Q1 2023, Morning Consult ⁷ Morning Consult, November 2022 ⁸ The State of Crypto–Corporate Adoption, Coinbase, June 2023 ⁸ Crypto ownership calculated using the average percentage of US adults over the last four quarters who say they own crypto to Morning Consult, applied to the total number of US adults.