Donald Trump’s vocal backing of the cryptocurrency industry during the 2024 campaign delivered substantial financial contributions from crypto backers and played a role in his return to the presidency. But a new poll shows that a clear majority of Americans question his ability to oversee the sector fairly.
The CoinDesk survey of 1,000 registered voters, which was split evenly between 2024 Trump and Harris supporters, was conducted last week by Public Opinion Strategies. It found that 62% of respondents do not trust the Trump administration to handle crypto regulation. That said, only 45% said they knew that Trump and his family have built profitable stakes in the industry, most notably in the form of the family’s heavy involvement in crypto platform World Liberty Financial. On top of the concerns regarding Trump specifically, 73% of all voters opposed senior government officials more generally holding business interests in crypto. Even among Republican voters, that figure stood at 59%.
During his election campaign, Trump laid out several concrete pledges to win over the industry. He promised to create a national bitcoin stockpile and vowed that the government would never sell any of the bitcoin it already holds or acquires in the future. Trump also committed to firing the now former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on his first day in office and providing clear rules for the crypto industry to follow. Additionally, he espoused a desire for all future bitcoin to be mined inside the United States.
These promises helped secure industry donations, but the Trump family has also since earned large sums from crypto ventures. In 2025 alone the family reportedly generated $1.4 billion in crypto-related income, equal to roughly 20% of its $6.8 billion fortune. The gains came from selling World Liberty Financial’s WLFI tokens, proceeds from the TRUMP memecoin, and operations at the American Bitcoin mining company, among other projects.
At the same time, critics have pointed to several episodes as evidence of possible conflicts of interest or outright corruption. Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had served prison time for violating anti-money laundering regulatory compliance rules. Former DOJ pardon attorney Elizabeth Oyer referred to the move as “unprecedented corruption” and said Zhao did not meet standard criteria for clemency. Binance currently has roughly $2 billion in World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, a holding that still produces tens of millions in annual revenue for Trump-connected entities.
Another deal involved an investment firm linked to UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed to put $500 million into World Liberty Financial to acquire a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial. Eric Trump signed the contract days before the January 2025 inauguration, and $187 million reached Trump family entities. Months later the administration reversed long-standing national security blocks on selling advanced AI chips to the UAE, 20% of which are said to be going to Tahnoon’s own firm.
Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun also factored into the allegations. Sun bought large amounts of World Liberty Financial tokens and TRUMP memecoins. After Trump took office, the SEC initially stayed its enforcement case against him and eventually settled it. Three House Democrats wrote to the agency asking whether the decision reflected improper influence.
However, several Trump-linked crypto projects are now facing a bit of turmoil. For example, World Liberty Financial is now the target of a lawsuit filed by Sun over frozen assets. The project has also faced criticism for borrowing stablecoins while posting its own tokens as collateral, a practice some analysts compared to tactics used by the collapsed FTX exchange. Another venture, Alt5 Sigma Corp, saw its stock fall about 85% in the past year. Eric Trump was removed from the company’s leadership listing, and the relevant webpage has since been taken offline. The firm had previously announced plans to buy $1.5 billion worth of WLFI tokens for its treasury.
Despite the campaign emphasis on crypto, one of Trump’s signature pledges remains unfulfilled. The Clarity Act, which would set clearer rules for digital assets and was heavily promoted to industry donors, has not passed Congress. The bill previously stalled over disagreements between crypto firms and traditional banks on stablecoin yields. But more recently, Republican Senator Thom Tillis has said the legislation is ready for a hearing and has expressed support for adding ethics language.
Passage is widely viewed as urgent before the November midterm elections, as analysts expect Democrats to gain seats in the House and Senate, which could block future crypto-friendly measures. Democrats have pressed for months to insert provisions that would bar officials, namely Trump, from profiting personally from crypto while in office, and now this latest poll data shows 73% of voters also share that view.
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