Since Bitcoin’s launch in 2009, cryptocurrency has been hailed as a decentralized way to build wealth, and denounced for pump-and-dump volatility and politician endorsements.
The largest-ever study of U.S. cryptocurrency holders, conducted in 2025, finds that one in five U.S. adults, or 55 million, are using cryptocurrency; 76% of respondents said it had a positive impact on their lives, 21% were neutral and only 3% said the impact was negative.
Of the 10,000 respondents, 52% said they were most interested in using cryptocurrency to invest in their future and 39% said they use it to pay for goods and services.
Decrypting cryptocurrency
“This is what crypto does: If I’m walking down the street and hand someone one dollar … I can do that any time, any day, and they’re still able to use that value,” said Tyrone Ross, CEO and co-founder of Turnqey Labs and principal at 401 Financial. “They don’t need to know my name. I don’t need to know theirs. It’s the ability to send value anywhere in the world at any time to anyone without the approval or lack thereof of a third party, like a bank.”
In 2021, the World Bank reported 1.4 billion people unbanked worldwide; the FDIC reported that this includes 5.6 million U.S. households, or 1 in 25.
As of 2023, an estimated 12.3 million Americans live in banking deserts.
“There is a great inequity when it comes to financial markets, not to mention how expensive it is to be poor in this country … for instance, with checking account fees,” said Ross. “What crypto ultimately does is act like a flashlight on the inequities that exist in the current financial markets and infrastructure, not only in the United States but the world … and it ushers in new ways for folks to have control over when and how you move your funds.”
“Accessing funds in real time matters, because if I need to pay my rent on a Friday and get paid then, and my money doesn’t clear my bank account until Monday — and God forbid it’s a holiday, and I get that money on Tuesday — that means I’m getting evicted today, and my things are on the road on Saturday,” he continued. “Beyond the U.S., real-time transfers can matter even more in getting around fees.”
In 2023, an estimated $857 billion in remittances was sent from the U.S., with a global average of 6.4% in fees for every $200 sent.
As of 2023, annual U.S. remittance fees totalled $13.1 billion — an 8% rise since 2022.
This number would rise even more under the 3.5% remittance tax included in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22 and now faces a Senate vote expected in late June, with a final budget deadline of July 4.
“There are bad actors, scammers, just like in every other sector,” added Ross. “That’s always been there. But it’s one thing to keep people out by telling them it’s scammy, and another to educate them and give them a way to transact and save their money. How could you advocate for underserved people and be against that?””
A 2021 Pew survey found that 24% of Asian American and 21% of Black or Hispanic adults said they held or used cryptocurrency, compared to 14% of White adults.
In 2022, the median White U.S. household had approximately half the wealth of the median Asian American household, five times the median Hispanic household and six times the median Black household, according to a Federal Reserve survey.
The risks
“When you consider the U.S. racial wealth gap, financial losses — even in small amounts — can have a more profound impact on families that have already faced structural disadvantages in accessing and accumulating wealth,” said Cantrell Dumas, director of derivatives policy at Better Markets.
“One of the most significant crypto risks is volatility,” he continued. “Prices have shown dramatic fluctuations, rising or falling by double digits in very short time frames for investors with little to no financial cushion.”
“Another area of concern is fraud and scams,” he continued, “including Ponzi schemes, fake investment platforms, phishing scams and impersonation tactics, all often delivered through mobile apps, social media channels … or Bitcoin ATM deposits directed by scammers impersonating government or tech support representatives.”
Estimated losses in cryptocurrency-related scams surged 66% from an estimated $5.6 billion in 2023 to $9.3 billion in 2024 with over 140,000 complaints filed, according to FBI data.
In the first half of 2024 alone, over $65 million in losses owed to scams involving Bitcoin ATMs.
“By and large, cryptocurrencies are not backed by any central authority, so there is no one watching for massive fluctuations or great losses,” said Elizabeth Kwok, managing director of FTI Consulting and former assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission.
“Many of the scams associated with cryptocurrencies are not new or unique. It’s just that the new lure is the digital asset,” she continued. “Scammers and fraudsters will trade on that sense of you having missed out on your chance to get rich quick.”
Cryptocurrency under Trump
“With certain members of the White House now having their own coins on the market, signs indicate a loosening of enforcement in the cryptocurrency space,” added Kwok.
The new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the main U.S. agency tasked with overseeing fairness in financial products and services used by Americans — shuttered the agency’s headquarters last February and laid off 90% of employees last April.
“President Trump, during his first term in office, was no fan of cryptocurrency. In one interview, he called bitcoin ‘a scam against the dollar’ … That obviously changed, and that was the result of a concerted lobbying effort,” said Zeke Faux, investigative reporter and author of “Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.”
In the 2024 election cycle, the cryptocurrency industry exceeded $238 million in political spending, accounting for 48% of all corporate political contributions and surpassing the oil and gas industry and the pharmaceutical industry.
As of June, not real estate but cryptocurrency constitutes the majority of Trump’s wealth, with $3.3 billion of a total $5.5 billion tied up in the industry.
After taking office, Trump appointed former cryptocurrency lobbyist Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “and the administration dropped almost all of the lawsuits they’d filed against crypto companies, so the government’s position went from ‘Most of this is probably illegal’ to ‘Everything is fine,’” said Faux. “A few weeks later, he announced that he and his family were getting into the business themselves.”
From his first venture alone, involving a stake in World Liberty Financial tokens in 2024, Trump pocketed over $57 million. The largest buyer, billionaire Justin Sun, bought $75 million in the coins while facing an SEC lawsuit; after his purchase, the lawsuit was dropped into settlement talks.
$TRUMP, a meme coin released earlier this year, earned Trump an estimated $320 million.
In late May, the president’s social media company Trump Media and Technology Group announced it would raise roughly $2.5 billion to invest in bitcoin. This month, the company made two cryptocurrency ETF filings with the SEC seeking approval to launch a bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded fund.
“Certainly if someone wants special favors, there’s now a really good way to give the president’s family money,” said Faux. “The Trump administration is setting the rules for cryptocurrency, and these rules will affect all of our business.”
