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@tynan
Yes!! - definitely crank bolts !! In fact more so than chainring bolts.
I mount my cranks with a steel bolt so I can properly torque it down to the recommended torque setting (for a crank bolt ~50Nm).
Then once the cranks arms are on to the correct torque and have been left for at least an hour without being ridden (ask a metallurgist about metal 'bruising') - you can remove the heavy steel bolts as they are not holding the crank arms on, the inteference fit between the crank's sqaure bore hole and the spindle is what keep the cranks on.
Try it ! Take out your cranks bolts and ride your bike around, your cranks will stay where they are - this point is illustrated by the fact that to remove cranks from spindles even after we have removed the cranks bolts - takes special tools (and a little bit of effort).
You could ride around quite safely with no crank bolts once a crank arm has been properly installed - but incase your cranks squirm off the spindle, it's good to have something there to stop your cranks dropping off completely, an alloy crank bolt is a good choice if a light weight bike is your goal.
In summation, when you step on those cranks you are not putting any force (or negligibly so) on the crank bolts.