Progressives Are Losing The Crypto Future

Opinion by: Michael Rovner

When US President Donald Trump called for America to become “the crypto capital of the planet,” he acknowledged a growing sentiment among his supporters. Crypto is no longer simply an asset class or subculture to this group; it’s a parallel financial system being shaped by tech-savvy conservatives for political and economic ends.

Political campaigns now use crypto as core fundraising infrastructure. Conservative lawmakers, strategists and donors use it to reshape decisions, particularly in places with fewer regulations. This has created an environment shaped by right-leaning values, with progressives essentially sitting it out.

Crypto and US politics

Crypto-aligned political action committees (PACs) and donors poured more than $14 million into the 2022 midterms, according to OpenSecrets. Pew Research shows that 25% of Republican-leaning men report crypto investments, compared to just 16% of their left-leaning peers.

Why do so many liberals remain indifferent to crypto despite the widely publicized narratives of conservatives turning it into a tool of political power? Most blockchain projects still lead with flash over function. Risk aversion, optics and a lack of internal alignment on digital assets have kept many progressive organizations away. Many liberals prioritize equity and systemic reform and see profit motives with skepticism, a view that has grown as progressives have pushed the Democratic Party further left.

In the early web era, unions resisted tech adoption. Environmentalists fought server farms. As MIT’s Sinan Aral said, “early adopters shape system behavior.” Today, those early adopters are overwhelmingly on the right.

Crypto across the US political spectrum

Progressives have legitimate concerns that crypto has been used for fraud, tax evasion and energy waste. Decentralized finance often reads like libertarian ideology. That’s not a structural flaw; it’s a problem of opportunistic deployment. When liberals and progressives show contempt before investigation, they’re allowing the culture to be defined by the very beliefs they stand against.

A closer look at the landscape shows that blockchain can be a vehicle for projects that align with left-leaning values. Solana consumes a fraction of Bitcoin’s energy. Gitcoin has directed over $50 million to digital public goods. Projects like DisCO explore governance models emphasizing collaboration and shared accountability.

Whether progressives help shape the future of crypto depends on what happens now. A few US Democratic Party representatives have voiced nuanced positions. But ecosystems don’t wait for consensus. They evolve based on participation.

Related: US Senator sets 2026 goal for two crypto bills

Wyoming has already passed legislation enabling decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) recognition. If the left wants to influence, it needs to move from critique to contribution: convene working groups, pilot real-world projects and back credible experiments.

Crypto isn’t a cure-all, but scaled systems become power. If progressives remain on the sidelines, they won’t just lose leverage — they’ll lose relevance.

Crypto’s voice through votes

That loss is not merely symbolic. As crypto infrastructure quietly becomes the scaffolding for everything from civic tools to voting systems, the left may wake up to find the rules already written — by someone else. 

It’s not too late. Progressives don’t need to go all in. Fund an equity-first DAO. Partner with one city. Support one real experiment. Contribution matters more than consensus. In decentralized systems, showing up is how you shape the outcome. And once it’s built, it’s a lot harder to change.

The future of a fair and democratic blockchain demands input from across the political spectrum.

Opinion by: Michael Rovner

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.