About 1 in 5 Americans have used crypto; Republicans’ use has ticked up

About one-in-five U.S. adults have invested in or used a cryptocurrency, a figure that has held relatively steady in recent years even as a new partisan divide has opened, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January 2026 [1]. The survey found that 19% of U.S. adults have used cryptocurrency, a modest increase from 16% in 2021 [1]. The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based think tank that does not take policy stances, conducted the survey to measure public engagement with digital assets [5]. The findings arrive as the Trump administration has taken steps to position the country as what it calls the "crypto capital of the world," including moves to allow crypto firms to operate as banks [1]. For the first time, a gap in usage has emerged along party lines. Republican and Republican-leaning adults are now more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to report using cryptocurrency, at 22% versus 17% [1]. Republican usage has risen from 16% in 2021, while Democratic usage has remained unchanged [1]. Demographic differences remain pronounced. Men are more than twice as likely as women to have used crypto, at 27% compared to 11% [1]. The gap is widest among younger adults: 38% of men ages 18 to 29 say they have used cryptocurrency, compared with 15% of women in the same age group [1]. Among those ages 30 to 49, 40% of men and 17% of women report using it [1]. These younger cohorts, often described as digital natives, came of age during an era of widespread internet and portable device use, though researchers note that familiarity with technology does not always translate to digital literacy [2][4]. Income also correlates with crypto use. Some 27% of adults in upper-income households have invested in or used cryptocurrency, up from 17% in 2021 [1]. By comparison, 20% of middle-income adults and 16% of lower-income adults report using it [1]. Across racial and ethnic groups, 25% of Asian adults say they have used cryptocurrency, a rate similar to Black and Hispanic adults [1]. White adults, at 18%, remain less likely to be users than Asian adults but have seen their usage tick up from 13% in 2021, bringing them roughly on par with Black and Hispanic adults for the first time [1].