NCA: Crypto to add $55 billion to U.S. economy in 2026

A report released Wednesday by the Pragmatic Policy Group for the National Cryptocurrency Association estimates the crypto industry will contribute $55 billion to U.S. economic output in 2026 and support roughly 232,000 jobs across the economy.

The $55 billion figure reflects direct, indirect and induced employment effects. The report counts company payroll, spending by workers and the wider output generated when those wages are spent in local economies.

The study found about 34,000 people are directly employed by crypto firms in the United States. Total jobs supported across suppliers, service providers and household spending reach about 232,000. The report compares direct crypto employment with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and finds it exceeds workforce levels in coffee and tea manufacturing and in aerospace.

Sector breakdowns in the report show investments in securities and commodity contracts accounted for about $9.7 billion of the total economic contribution. Housing and real estate together contributed about $4.8 billion. The report assigns output to firm operations, employee compensation and downstream spending that those wages generate.

Regional concentrations of crypto employment were largest in Texas, Washington, North Carolina, California and New York. The report identifies Colorado as a growing blockchain hub, citing state regulatory policies described as favorable to industry activity. It also identifies North Dakota as developing an energy-integrated digital infrastructure hub, linking that trend to state tax provisions that favor crypto mining and to policies encouraging use of flare gas for power.

The National Cryptocurrency Association launched in March 2025 as a nonprofit focused on consumer crypto education. The organization received $50 million in initial backing from Ripple Labs and is led by Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer.

The report was published amid a wave of shutdowns in parts of the crypto sector in 2026. New York-based startup Entropy announced it would close in January after four years of operation. Decentralized governance platform Tally and protocol operator Balancer Labs ceased operations in March. Singapore-based decentralized email provider Dmail began winding down in May, citing high expenses for bandwidth, storage and computing.

The NCA framed the research as a measure of the industry’s economic footprint in the United States and as part of its work on consumer education and public policy engagement.