--- title: "Ipsos Survey Shows Crypto Churn Rises as Active US Adoption Stalls at 13%" description: "A DeFi Education Fund study conducted by Ipsos reveals that 22% of US adults have tried crypto, but ongoing use remains flat while exchange trust stands at 4%." url: https://basisdesk.news/news/ipsos-survey-us-crypto-churn-defi-trust published: 2026-10-28T19:56:35.474Z modified: 2026-10-28T19:56:35.474Z section: DeFi author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified) sentiment: neutral tickers: [BTC, ETH] tags: [adoption, surveys, defi, united-states, ipsos, defi-education-fund] license: Quote with attribution to Basis Desk (basisdesk.news). Not financial advice. --- # Ipsos Survey Shows Crypto Churn Rises as Active US Adoption Stalls at 13% A DeFi Education Fund study conducted by Ipsos reveals that 22% of US adults have tried crypto, but ongoing use remains flat while exchange trust stands at 4%. ## At a glance - **What happened:** An Ipsos survey revealed 22% of US adults have owned crypto, up from 18% in 2025, but past-year use remained flat at 13%. - **Why it matters:** Growth in the sector is being offset by churn, with trust in exchanges remaining at a low 4% despite dissatisfaction with legacy banking. - **Who is affected:** US crypto exchanges, decentralized finance protocols, and retail cryptocurrency users. - **What's next:** No next step announced. - **Primary source:** [More Americans Have Tried Crypto, But Few Are Sticking With It: Survey](https://decrypt.co/382100/more-americans-tried-crypto-few-staying-survey) — decrypt.co ## Key points - Lifetime US crypto usage climbed to 22% from 18% in 2025, but active past-year use remained flat at 13%, according to an Ipsos survey. - Lapsed users more than doubled to 11%, showing that adoption gains were largely offset by departures. - High trust in crypto exchanges reached just 4%, compared to 42% for large banks, even as 63% say the legacy financial system needs upgrades. ## Editorial remark - **Context:** The DeFi Education Fund commissioned Ipsos to measure public perception across legacy banking, crypto exchanges, and decentralized protocols using the Federal Reserve's preferred panel methodology. - **Impact:** Exchanges and protocols face significant onboarding and retention bottlenecks, as curiosity-driven adoption fails to translate into sustained usage or institutional-level trust. - **Watch:** Subsequent industry sentiment indicators and user-retention figures following regulatory implementations like the GENIUS Act. A growing number of Americans have experimented with digital assets, but few are sticking with them [1]. According to a national survey conducted by Ipsos for the DeFi Education Fund, 22% of US adults have ever owned or used cryptocurrency, up from 18% in 2025 [1]. However, the share of respondents who actively used crypto in the past 12 months held flat at 13% [1]. The survey polled 1,545 adults from Sept. 8 to Sept. 16 using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel [1]. The data indicates that recent growth in lifetime users is driven primarily by people who have since stepped away [1]. Among Americans who reported not using crypto over the past year, the proportion who had ever owned or used it climbed to 11% from 5% [1]. Forward-looking interest also remained stagnant, with 17% of respondents indicating they are likely to own or use crypto in the future compared to 16% in 2025 [1]. Demographically, men were more than twice as likely as women to have used crypto in the past year, at 18% versus 8%, while curiosity led as the primary motivator for entering the market at 34%, followed by long-term investment at 25% [1]. Understanding [trading psychology in crypto](https://basisdesk.news/news/trading-psychology-crypto) often highlights how early novelty fades when users encounter market volatility. ## Trust Deficits and the DeFi Knowledge Gap While traditional finance faces low consumer confidence, the crypto sector has struggled to capture that sentiment [1]. Only 19% of respondents consider the traditional financial system secure, and 63% believe it requires upgrades against threats like artificial intelligence and cybercrime [1]. Despite this skepticism, crypto alternatives saw negligible confidence: only 4% of participants reported high trust in crypto exchanges, and 5% trusted decentralized platforms [1]. By comparison, large national banks secured 42% trust, while credit unions led at 48% [1]. Broader ecosystem security concerns linger alongside these findings; wallet maker Ledger recently confirmed that an $87 million drain involved hardware units supplied by a Southeast Asian reseller [1]. Decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to suffer from a lack of general awareness despite open interest [1]. Only 2% of Americans described themselves as very familiar with DeFi, and just 6% could identify four baseline characteristics of cryptocurrency [1]. Even so, 40% stated they would be at least somewhat likely to try DeFi, with more than 80% of that cohort expressing an interest in utilizing it to save money, earn interest, or transfer funds [1]. However, broader educational curiosity is waning: interest in learning about stablecoins dropped to 7% from 11%, while interest in DeFi fell to 8% from 11% [1]. At the time of writing, $BTC traded at $81,412 and $ETH stood at $2,365 amid neutral market sentiment. ## FAQ **What percentage of Americans actively use crypto?** According to the Ipsos survey, 13% of US adults used cryptocurrency in the past 12 months, identical to 2025 levels. **How much trust do US consumers place in crypto exchanges?** Only 4% of respondents reported having high trust in crypto exchanges, compared to 42% for large national banks. ## Sources 1. [More Americans Have Tried Crypto, But Few Are Sticking With It: Survey](https://decrypt.co/382100/more-americans-tried-crypto-few-staying-survey) — decrypt.co, 2026-10-28 --- Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai