Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) research found that calling Bitcoin “digital gold” was an ineffective marketing message for everyday Americans. The three-phase project, conducted with polling firm Cygnal and Neighborhood Bitcoin between March and June 2026, began with 1,516 registered voters aged 18 to 64. The largest segment, Curious Fence-Sitters, represented 32% of respondents, followed by Ideological Rejecters at nearly 30%, Financially Stressed Disengaged at about 20% and Active Believers at about 18%. Eight focus groups involving about 80 nonowners who could be persuaded to buy Bitcoin were then held in Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee. Cygnal’s CEO Brent Buchanan led sessions lasting about 95 minutes each. In a message-validation survey conducted from May 29 to June 2, 2026, among 1,000 registered voters, control ranked as the biggest concern, followed by proven performance, security, access and ease of use. Messages such as “You decide how much” and “You can track the activity yourself” performed best, while “freedom money” also resonated. After respondents saw 19 messages, the share not interested at all in owning Bitcoin fell from 39% to 32%, while those very or extremely interested rose from 19% to 24%. A separate July 2026 paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that expected Bitcoin returns explained ownership more strongly than demographic variables combined. In 2021, holders expected a 22% annual return versus 7% among nonholders. In a 2025 experiment, participants told that Bitcoin had returned 14.3% over the previous year planned to invest about 47% more in crypto and were about 23% more likely to buy it in a later survey wave. U.S. household ownership rose from under 2% in 2018 to about 12% by 2025.