Stuart Alderoty cites National Cryptocurrency Association data showing digital assets moving into mainstream U.S. finance
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said crypto is moving deeper into mainstream American finance, citing a National Cryptocurrency Association report that found 67 million Americans now own or use digital assets.
Alderoty, who also serves as president of the National Cryptocurrency Association, spoke at the NYSE on May 28. “We found that 67 million Americans today own or use crypto. So, crypto is no longer a niche product. I think it is creeping more into the mainstream,” he said.
The NCA partnered with Harris Poll and surveyed 40,000 Americans for the State of Crypto Holder Report. The report compared 2025 and 2026 data to measure year-over-year growth, finding that 12 million additional Americans entered the crypto economy over the past year.
Demographic shifts underscore the broadening reach. New crypto holders aged 18-24 represent 18% of the population cohort, while 28% of all crypto holders are older than 55. “That growth is coming from women. It’s coming from construction workers. It’s coming from manufacturing employees,” Alderoty said.
Alderoty framed crypto adoption as increasingly about integration into everyday payments and financial infrastructure rather than a separate system. “It’s not an either or. It’s not where you either use crypto or use traditional financial services. I think we are now in a world where we’re using both, and both are becoming interchangeable and interoperable,” he said.
He illustrated the shift with a payments scenario. “I’m going to be able to show up at the Walmart checkout registry and use my OnePay app. And I can set that OnePay app to say, ‘Do I want to pay in cash? Do I want to pay using my debit card? Do I want to pay using my credit card? Or do I want to pay using my crypto wallet?’ And that transaction will be sort of all happening behind the scenes,” Alderoty said.
Alderoty compared crypto adoption to the smartphone transition, arguing change happened incrementally as technology became useful enough to fade into daily life. Younger generations will not know a financial world without crypto as an option. “They’re never going to grow up in a world where crypto was not part of the financial suite of products that they can use,” he said.
The NCA’s website includes an interactive map showing crypto holder distribution across U.S. states and congressional districts. Ripple describes itself as a provider of crypto infrastructure for large and medium-sized businesses seeking to add payments, custody, tokenization, liquidity, or treasury management capabilities.
At press time, XRP traded at $1.32.
