The Federal Reserve has released its annual report on household economic well-being. In 2025, 10% of Americans used cryptocurrency in some form. That figure rose from 2023 and 2024 and reached the highest level since 2022.
What Did the Fed Measure?
Each year, the Federal Reserve surveys thousands of households on their financial health. Participants answer questions about income, bank accounts, debt, and crypto use. The 2025 report was published on May 19, 2026, and draws on data from families across the country.
The sub-categories add up to more than 10% because one respondent could report multiple uses. The headline figure: one in ten Americans actively used crypto in 2025.
Who Uses Crypto and How?
Most people who touched crypto in 2025 did so through investing. But payment and transfer use cases are also present. Here is how usage broke down:
- Investors (9%): hold crypto assets as part of a portfolio or for potential price appreciation.
- 2% of adults paid for goods or services with crypto at stores or online.
- 1% sent money to family or friends using crypto instead of a bank transfer.
The Fed also tracked unbanked households separately. About 6% of Americans have no bank account at all. Among them, 6% used crypto for payments or transfers, compared to just 2% among banked adults. For a meaningful portion of the population, crypto replaces banking services rather than adding to them.
The reason is practical: opening a crypto wallet requires no bank account and no credit check. International transfers through crypto are faster and cheaper than through traditional networks, which matters most to migrants who send money abroad regularly.
Why Are Businesses Asking for Crypto?
Among those who paid in crypto during 2025, more than 25% said the business itself preferred or requested that payment method. The main reasons businesses give are speed, privacy, and lower fees compared to bank transfers.
Fewer than 10% of businesses turn to crypto because they distrust banks or consider it safer than traditional finance. For most companies, the decision is about efficiency, not ideology.
Bitcoin and USDT are already accepted at more than 800,000 US merchant locations through Jack Dorsey's Block platform. Lightspark, founded by former PayPal President David Marcus, is building Lightning Network infrastructure to bring Bitcoin payments into mainstream commerce.
The New Fed Chair and Bitcoin
The report landed during a week of leadership change at the Fed. After Jerome Powell's departure, the Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh by a 54-45 vote. Warsh is known as a hawk on monetary policy. He consistently backs lower inflation and a cautious approach to quantitative easing.
Yet Warsh has spoken positively about Bitcoin. He previously compared it to gold as a savings vehicle for younger generations and said BTC could "provide market discipline." The new Fed chair is strict about loose money but not hostile to crypto. That combination could sustain interest in Bitcoin as a hard asset.
Some analysts expect Warsh to hold rates higher for longer than markets anticipate, which traditionally weighs on risk assets. But if Bitcoin gains an informal status as a "market disciplinarian" from the new Fed chair, the conversation around crypto at the federal level may shift considerably.
What the Trend Says
In 2021, 12% of Americans used crypto, but that was peak mania followed by a sharp crash. After the 2022 collapse, adoption dropped, and it has been rebuilding since. Getting back to 10% in 2025, without a memecoin frenzy or high-profile IPO cycle, is a steady recovery signal.
If the trend holds through 2026, US crypto users could surpass the bull-market peak. The Fed data carries weight that analyst forecasts and exchange press releases do not: it is official government statistics with a large sample.
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