Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that encrypted assets were no longer on the margins of the United States financial system. He refers to an industry survey that stated that more than 67 million Americans held digital assets. This statement appeared after his participation in the White House meeting, which included the President of the United States, Trump, the Chairman of the SEC, Paul Atkins, the Chairman of the CTC, Michael Selig, and a number of encryption executives.
According to the investigation, about a quarter of all adults in the United States are in currency.
This set of data is based on the Status of Encrypted Holders 2026 published by the National Encrypted Currency Association of the United States (NCA) in May this year, with the participation of Harris Poll. According to the report, approximately one quarter of the adult population of the United States is owned by 67 million people, an increase of about 12 million over the Institute ' s estimates for 2025.
However, the survey was not aimed at a sample of all adults in the United States, but rather visited 10,000 adults who claimed to be currently in possession of encrypted assets, and weighted the size of national holdings accordingly. It therefore better reflects the usage habits and attitudes of currency holders and does not directly represent the position of all Americans.
Ripple's connected to the investigation.
The publisher of the study has a direct link to Ripple. Ripple promised $50 million to set up a NCA, Ripple Chief Justice Stuart Alderotey, who also served as president of the organization. This background does not necessarily negate the findings of the survey, but it will influence external judgement on the independence of the data.
Garlinghouse stated on social platforms that the encryption industry was no longer “marginal” and described currency holders as an active voting group. The original study, however, primarily measured possession and use and did not directly investigate voting intentions.
Holders say the use is expanding.
According to the report, 63 per cent of the respondents indicated that they were more interested in using encrypted assets in 2026 than in 2025. The purposes mentioned by respondents included investment, payment, family and friends transfers, charitable donations and commercial activities.
The survey also stated that women accounted for 42 per cent of those who first bought encrypted assets in 2025 or 2026, a higher proportion than the earlier participants 34 per cent. With regard to the revenue structure, NCA indicated that 90 per cent of the visited currency holders earned less than $0.5 million annually, of which 23 per cent earned less than $75,000 annually.
These results indicate a broad distribution of currency holders, but do not demonstrate that encrypted assets are generally accepted, nor do they cover attitudes, losses or data on consumer complaints of uncurrencyed populations.
D.C. Synchronizes legislation and regulation
As Garlinghouse spoke, the United States Government was pushing Congress to consider Clarity Act. The bill envisages a federal division of responsibility between SEC and CFTC for the regulation of the encryption market. The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on 15 September, which will require 60 votes if it is to enter into formal deliberations.
At present, differences over ethical restrictions, stable currency incentives and financial crime prevention provisions remain. At the same time, the SEC is advancing rule-making alone. On August 18, the Agency presented the " Regulation Cripto Assets ", which is intended to provide a customized registration exemption for the issuance of part of the encrypted investment contract.
According to the proposal, one category of exemption would apply to the issuance of funds up to $5 million over four years and another category would apply to the issuance of funds up to $75 million within 12 months, subject to information disclosure and ongoing reporting requirements. The proposal is still in the public consultation stage and has not yet entered into force.