Crypto investors could be an influential voting bloc in Australia’s next federal election, with a recent survey finding millions of Australians could prefer to vote for pro-crypto politicians.
Australian crypto exchange Swyftx said a YouGov survey of 2,031 Australian voters released on Feb. 19 found that 59% of current crypto investors are more likely to vote for a candidate that’s pro-crypto this election.
Swyftx said that figure would mean a pro-crypto voting bloc of around 2 million Australians. Around 22% of the surveyed voters reported investing in crypto, it added, which would be equivalent to four million adults.
Swyftx said YouGov’s recent survey also found one in three crypto owners said it would make no difference if a candidate were pro-crypto, while around 5% of crypto investors would be turned off by a pro-crypto candidate.
YouGov’s latest poll on Feb. 16 showed the center-right Coalition, led by Peter Dutton, was in the best position to form a government and would beat out the incumbent center-left Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
A party needs 76 seats to win, and YouGov’s poll showed that the Coalition could clinch 73, meaning Albanese would have to sway just about every crossbencher to stay in power.
YouGov projected the most likely outcome of the election is a hung parliament — where no single party or coalition has enough seats to form a government. Source: YouGov
A date is yet to be called for the election, but it must be held on or before May 17.
“For the first time in our political history, we’re about to enter a federal election with a crypto-voting bloc that’s big enough and motivated enough to swing the result,” Swyftx CEO Jason Titman told Cointelegraph in a statement.
He added that crypto investors are typically affluent, under 50 years old, and “ensconced in the inner and outer suburbs of our big cities. Key political battlegrounds.”
“As an industry, we know our customers want clear rules that protect local investors and support competition and innovation,” Titman said. “No one wants the status quo.”
“The rest of the world is getting on with introducing properly tailored legislation, and Australia has sat on the sidelines.”
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However, Swyftx said that YouGov’s data shows around 18% of surveyed voters aged over 50 said they were less likely to vote for a pro-crypto politician at the election.
“I fully accept our sector needs to do a better job of spelling out the productivity and investment benefits of crypto technology to non-crypto users,” Titman said.
“It’s on us to do a better job of making the benefits of blockchain technology clear to all segments of the population, including older voters,” he added.
YouGov’s poll was conducted between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10 as part of a national omnibus survey.
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