Crypto and DeFi: Only One in Five Americans Consider Their Financial System Safe

Trust is eroding. On October 27, the DeFi Education Fund unveiled with Ipsos the latest iteration of its financial barometer. While the digital euro from the ECB is still under construction, only 19% of Americans consider their financial system safe. This discomfort is measured just a week before the midterm elections and is already benefiting decentralized finance.

Key Points of This Article:

• Only 19% of Americans believe that their country's financial system is secure, according to the Ipsos survey.
• 22% of respondents have owned or used cryptocurrencies, an increase compared to 2025.
• 40% of respondents say they are at least somewhat likely to try DeFi if it were accessible to them.
• The ownership of crypto remains nearly identical among Republicans and Democrats in the U.S.

Why Are Americans Distrustful of Their Banks?

Conducted in September among 1,545 adults, the second iteration weighs responses by age, background, education, region, and household income. The margin of error is set at 2.8 points, based on a KnowledgePanel already surveyed last year.

The central finding of the study remains severe. Indeed, only 7% of Americans fully trust regional or community banks. And 63% believe that the financial system needs to be modernized to face threats from the era of artificial intelligence.

Privacy also fuels this distrust: 74% of respondents consider financial confidentiality important, and 80% demand changes to regain control over their personal data.

Most importantly, 54% fear that financial institutions will not protect their information against AI threats, a concern that is far from theoretical as an AI has already detected 3 vulnerabilities at the heart of Bitcoin.

Access to their money completes the picture. 66% of Americans want to be able to check their funds at any time. However, only 49% feel they have personal control over their financial assets, two basic expectations that the current system only partially meets according to the study.

DeFi Emerges Stronger from This Distrust

DeFi refers to financial services programmed on a blockchain, without a bank between the user and their funds, a sort of bank where the code serves as the counter. The survey notes that usage is growing faster than understanding of the subject.

22% of Americans have owned or used cryptocurrencies, a significant increase compared to the wave conducted in 2025.

Thus, 40% of respondents say they are at least somewhat likely to try DeFi if it were truly accessible to them.

Among them, 85% would use it first for saving and 82% for sending money to their relatives living in the United States, two everyday uses that have significantly increased over the past year.

These proportions measure declared intentions, not observed adoptions, in a study signed by a foundation that advocates for DeFi. It also relies on the support of ecosystem players, including the Phantom wallet.

The timing is not trivial, with a publication just a week before the November midterm elections. 35% of Americans consider it important that candidates advocate for building the next generation of financial technology in the United States.

In terms of ownership, 24% of Republicans and 21% of Democrats have owned or used cryptocurrencies, a near equality that crosses the political spectrum.

Meanwhile, traditional finance is not standing still: tokenized deposits and stablecoins have convinced 88% of large companies. The battle for trust between traditional finance and decentralized finance is just beginning.