A new Ipsos survey found that only 19% of Americans strongly approve of the security of the US financial system, while those who have a high level of trust in decentralized platforms account for just 5%.

5% of people have a high level of trust in decentralized platforms, while 42% have trust in large national banks.

The proportion of people who hold or have used cryptocurrencies for life reaches 22%, but the participation rate in the past year is still 13%.

- 74% of Americans believe that financial privacy is very important, and 62% prefer to keep their personal information private in financial transactions.

Among those respondents willing to try DeFi, 85% regarded saving money as the main motivation, while only 24% cited the use of cryptocurrency lending as their motivation.

The national study commissioned by DeFi Education Foundation and conducted by Ipsos KnowledgePanel was carried out from September 8 to 16, 2026, and surveyed a total of 1,545 American adults. Ipsos indicates that the sample was drawn using probabilistic sampling methods and weighted according to the US adult population, with a sampling error margin of 2.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

The core results of the study show that large national banks have a 42% proportion of complete or high trust, regional or community banks have 41%, and credit cooperatives have 48%.

Despite the control requirements, the trust level of DeFi is still lower than that of banks.

In regards to the issue of institutional trust, 73% of respondents indicated that they had little to no trust in decentralized platforms that allow users to retain control over their funds. Another 19% expressed some level of trust, while those who openly stated they have “complete or high trust” accounted for 5%.

In the results of Ipsos, only 2% of respondents stated that they were very familiar or extremely familiar with DeFi; in contrast, the proportions of those who are very familiar or extremely familiar with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are 9% and 5% respectively. The proportion of those who are not familiar or not very familiar with DeFi is 92%, which is the same as the survey results from August 2025.

For banks, the results show that a considerable proportion of respondents gave an answer indicating "a certain level of trust." Ipsos notes that 36% of respondents have a certain level of trust in national banks, while 38% have a certain level of trust in regional or community banks. The proportions of those who indicate almost no trust or no trust at all are 20% and 18%, respectively.

When asked about the financial services available to them, half of the respondents expressed great satisfaction or extremely high satisfaction, while another 36% indicated moderate satisfaction, according to the summary table. This question covered banks, investment services, and payment applications.

The statement "The current financial system in the United States is safe" received strong or fairly strong agreement from 19% of respondents. Ipsos notes that 3% believed this statement to be in perfect agreement with their own views, 16% thought it was very consistent, 47% considered it somewhat consistent; another 31% believed it was not quite consistent or not consistent at all.

22% of people have experience using cryptocurrencies, but the usage rate has remained stable recently.

The research page of the foundation shows that 22% of Americans have owned or used cryptocurrencies, which is higher than the 18% in 2025. However, in the original questionnaire, the proportion of those who owned or used cryptocurrencies within the past 12 months remained at 13% in both surveys.

Among respondents with experience in cryptocurrencies, Ipsos recorded that 34% cited "curiosity" as the reason for owning or using cryptocurrencies. One-quarter mentioned long-term investment, 18% mentioned short-term investment, and 8% mentioned purchasing or making payments. Respondents were able to select multiple reasons.

Previous polls measured different levels of ownership. crypto.news reported in July 2025 that Gallup found that 14% of American adults held cryptocurrencies at the time of their survey. The poll conducted by Gallup from June 2 to 15, 2025, asked about current ownership, while the headline figures from this new foundation include both former holders and those who have used cryptocurrencies.

Gallup's preliminary results show that 4% of American adults are interested in making purchases, 17% are interested but have no plans to buy in the short term, and 60% have no interest in purchasing at all. The report also indicates that 35% of respondents have some knowledge about cryptocurrencies.

Financial privacy receives stronger support than familiarity with DeFi.

In this Ipsos study, privacy was supported on multiple fronts. 74% of the respondents believed that financial privacy is very important, and 62% preferred to keep their personal information private in financial transactions.

80% of the data on the research page that states "giving people more control over their personal data" combines different levels of consent. In the summary questionnaire, 44% of respondents indicated that this statement extremely or very much aligned with their views, while 36% said it somewhat matched their opinions.

Concerns about emerging threats are also reflected in the same set of tables. Ipsos found that 63% of respondents strongly support upgrading the financial system to address threats such as cybercrime and artificial intelligence; 54% of respondents are worried that financial institutions are not adequately prepared to protect personal information from AI related threats.

Developers have already introduced privacy features for the existing DeFi applications. On October 13th, StarkWare announced the launch of Shadow Accounts on Starknet, which allows application activities to be conducted through addresses without being publicly linked to the user's main wallet. The company stated that balances and transactions will still be visible on the blockchain.

After the respondents understood the features, their interest in trying DeFi increased to 40%.

When asked whether they would try if DeFi were available, 40% of the respondents Ipsos indicated that they would at least possibly try it, with 10% saying it was very likely or highly probable. The questionnaire placed this question after an introduction to the DeFi feature, which includes control over funds and data, transaction access, and international transfers, among other things.

Among those who indicated they might be interested in trying it, 85% believed that saving money could be one of the uses, 82% thought it could be for remitting funds to friends or family within the United States, and 82% saw it as a way to earn interest. Ipsos also shows that 24% used cryptocurrency tokens for lending.

In a subsequent question, the questionnaire described a proposed legislation that requires many crypto companies to register and disclose information, stating that consumers will receive greater protection as a result. Following this description, it was indicated that at least some individuals were likely to attempt DeFi, with a proportion of 42%, while those who were highly likely or very likely to do so still accounted for 10%.

In another policy issue, Ipsos found that 35% of respondents believed it was “extremely important” or “very important” for candidates to encourage the development of fintech in the United States. However, when it came to encouraging blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and DeFi itself, only 13% gave this rating.

Outside of the United States, French authorities have raised concerns regarding the security obligations of the DeFi platform in the European Commission's consultation on MiCA. This information was reported on October 21st. Their recommendations would require intermediaries to assess the protocols before providing access and to monitor for vulnerabilities thereafter; failure to conduct thorough checks or to ignore known risks could result in liability.