As President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk keep pushing cryptocurrency, how many Americans believe crypto is a scam?
A new poll from Emerson College asked respondents whether they believed crypto is a “scam.” The question comes as Musk and Trump continue to promote cryptocurrency on social media platforms, including Trump’s own memecoin.
The poll found that a majority of voters, 57%, think cryptocurrency is a scam while 43% believe it’s a legitimate form of currency. Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, noted in a press release that women are more likely than men to say it’s a scam.
“Men are more split on crypto: 52% think it is more of a scam and 48% think it is a legitimate form of currency, while 62% of women think it is more of a scam than a legitimate form of currency,” Kimball said.
The poll also found that those with postgraduate degrees are more likely to believe cryptocurrency is a scam, with 66% saying so. Voters over 70 are also more likely to think it’s a scam, with 75% saying it’s a scam compared to 55% of those under the age of 50 believing it’s a legitimate form of currency.
The poll also found that 54% think “not anyone should be able to create or issue cryptocurrencies” while just 18% think anyone should be allowed.
The poll also asked voters about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is being spearheaded by Musk. Forty-five percent of voters disapprove of the job Musk is doing at DOGE, while 41% approve. Musk is one of the biggest supporters of Dogecoin, a memecoin that become one of the most popular “meme stocks” in recent years.
The poll was conducted Feb. 15-17 among 1,000 respondents and has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Just days before his inauguration last month, Trump announced he was releasing his own memecoin, a small corner of the crypto industry that is seen as riskier than other investments. Since the launch of the memecoin, a Bloomberg analysis reported that it fell “more than 60% from its high.”
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) slammed Trump’s memecoin during a committee hearing earlier this month, accusing him of scamming Americans.
“Earlier this year, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency meme coin. He promoted it on social media and people invested in it. But then it quickly lost value, roughly 40%, when Trump insiders pulled their money for a profit, resulting in working class people stuck with the losses. It was a scam,” she said.
“So let’s be clear: on one hand, Donald Trump will steal from people through a crypto-scam,” she added.
Once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, Trump has made a complete reversal and embraced digital currencies in a way no other elected official has done. He’s promised to enact crypto-friendly policies and make the U.S. “the world capital” of digital assets.
He’s also attached the Trump name to a crypto token and other crypto-themed products. The cryptocurrency industry, which spent heavily to help Trump win last year’s election, has expressed mixed feelings about some of his crypto ventures.
Critics have said the ventures are ripe for abuse by people seeking Trump’s influence. Trump put his investments and assets in a trust managed by his children and has pledged not to play any role in managing his companies while president.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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