40% of Americans would use DeFi with laws in place: Crypto lobby poll

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More than 40% of Americans are open to using decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols if proposed legislation is made law, according to a recent survey.

Crypto lobby group the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) found in a survey released on Thursday that many Americans “are curious about DeFi” as respondents signalled a low trust in the traditional finance system.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos between Aug. 18 and 21, with 1,321 US adults polled. Ipsos Public Affairs vice president Alec Tyson said the study found “emerging awareness of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance as many Americans express frustrations with current financial institutions’ ability to deliver security, personalized control and flexibility.”

40% of Americans open to DeFi

The poll showed that 42% said they would likely try DeFi if proposed legislation were passed into law, split between 9% who said they were “extremely or very likely” and 33% who responded they were “somewhat likely” to try.

Congress is currently looking at bills that would define the legal status of many cryptocurrencies and specify how the country’s financial regulators divvy up policing the sector.

Two in five, or 40%, of the respondents said they’d “likely try out DeFi,” with 84% of those respondents saying they’d use it to make purchases online.

Just 12% of those surveyed said they were very or extremely interested in learning about DeFi, while nearly 40% believed that DeFi can address the issue of high transaction and service fees in banking and traditional finance.

“I would keep more of my paycheck in my pocket. I wouldn’t have to rely on any of the financial institutions, on paying them fees,” said one respondent from Queens in New York City.

Study shows mistrust of banks and TradFi

The DEF said the survey found that trust in traditional finance was “low across the board,” with the data revealing significant variations and areas of skepticism across the financial landscape.

Less than half of those surveyed believe the current US financial system meets their financial needs, while just a quarter thought that the traditional system is designed to benefit ordinary people.

More Americans are interested in having “control over my money at all times,” and many are looking for ways to send or receive money without a middleman, the researchers stated.

Financial surveillance and security are also major concerns, with only 29% of Americans surveyed believing that the US financial system is secure today.

Around three-quarters of those surveyed agreed that the current financial system needs to be upgraded to combat new threats, like cybercrime or AI.

DeFi still a nascent sector

“Desire for stronger security and lower transaction fees are among the top reasons that Americans are interested in DeFi, and Americans believe DeFi can alleviate friction points in finance today,” the researchers concluded.

Last month, US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said there was “nothing to be afraid of” about crypto payments operating outside the traditional banking system.

DeFi is still a very nascent sector with total value locked across all protocols currently standing at $160 billion, according to DefiLlama, which is less than the market capitalization of Boeing.

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