News
New Study: 60% of Voters Believe Crypto Donations Should Be Legal
Kevin O’Brien · @kevinobrienm | Oct 31, 2018 | 03:00
A Clovr survey of 1,023 registered voters in the United States found that 60% of respondents thought it should be legal to donate crypto in federal elections.
Clovr, a “company focused on promoting the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology,” has carried out a few surveys to gauge people’s attitudes about cryptocurrency.
In early October, the company found that 75% of respondents surveyed via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform had an understanding of what cryptocurrency is.
60% of the 1,004 respondents affirmed they felt comfortable “explaining cryptocurrency” to a novice.
The most recent Clovr survey focused on electoral politics. Respondents were asked a variety of questions that had to do with cryptocurrency and its use inside the often-seedy world of political donations.
Clovr wrote how responses were weighted by political party affiliation to “achieve a representative sample of the American voting public.”
Voters Generally Have Strong Confidence in Cryptocurrency
Out of 1,023 eligible voters surveyed in the United States through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Platform, 60% said it “should be legal to donate cryptocurrency in federal elections under the same rules that apply to donations in U.S. dollars.”
Clovr says voters agreed that virtual currencies and traditional ones like the dollar “should be treated equally.”
Current U.S. federal law limits donations in virtual currencies to $100 as an in-kind contribution. The rules are much different for donations in fiat.
When asked if digital currency was “secure enough to be used for political purposes,” 54% believed it was, while 26% said security was an issue.
The polling numbers were a bit tighter when people were asked if cryptocurrency was “financially stable enough” to be utilized for political purposes.
In this case, 42% believed it was, while 35% said it was not. The remaining 23% was unsure. Clovr said:
62 percent of voters extremely familiar with cryptocurrency expressed confidence in using it for political purposes.
Otherwise, roughly 25% of eligible voters in the survey indicated they would be more apt to donate to a political campaign if they could use cryptocurrency.
Concerns About Misuse Remain Prominent
Despite the positive sentiments by survey respondents towards cryptocurrency’s role in the political world, optimism waned when it came to questions about misuse or illicit practices.
60% of those surveyed affirmed the use of cryptocurrency in the political system would “make foreign interference in elections more common.”
About the same number, 62%, believed it was more likely virtual currency would be used illegally in the political world in comparison to the US Dollar.
Respondents turned decidedly more cynical when asked if political parties would illicitly capitalize on looser cryptocurrency donation regulations.
Clovr writes that there is a 90% “perceived likelihood” the Republican Party would illegally misuse cryptocurrency. The number was 83% for the Democrats, 63% for Libertarians, and 60% for the Green Party.
What are your thoughts on the recent survey from Clovr? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Bitcoinist archives, Shutterstock, Clovr.
