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Stuart Alderoty is tired of the “crypto boys” label. Ripple’s chief legal officer went public to challenge what he sees as a badly outdated stereotype, pointing to fresh survey data showing 67 million Americans now hold digital assets. That’s roughly one in four adults — and the number is doing a lot of work in Washington right now.
The figure comes from a report by the National Cryptocurrency Association, put together with The Harris Poll. Surveyors polled 10,000 U.S. crypto holders between February 12 and March 3, 2026. The results paint a picture that’s pretty different from the hoodie-and-laptop crowd that critics like to invoke. Among recent adopters, 42% identified as women. Another 28% were 55 or older. Alderoty’s broader point: the people holding crypto aren’t a niche demographic anymore. They’re teachers, nurses, retirees — a constituency that lawmakers probably can’t afford to brush aside. Whether that framing shifts any votes in the Senate is another question entirely.
Worth noting: Alderoty isn’t just Ripple’s CLO. He also serves as president of the National Cryptocurrency Association. The group was set up in March 2025 with a $50 million grant from Ripple. So the organization running the survey and the executive citing its findings are, basically, the same corner of the industry. That doesn’t make the numbers wrong, but it’s context Washington insiders will clock immediately.
The CLARITY Act Hits a Wall
The legislation at the center of all this is the CLARITY Act, which wants to draw a clean line between what the Securities and Exchange Commission handles and what falls to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on digital assets. The Senate Banking Committee moved the bill forward in May. And then things stalled.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed a vote won’t happen before the August recess. He pointed to Democratic resistance as the main reason. The bill needs 60 votes to clear a filibuster — which means it can’t get through on party-line math alone. It needs Democratic buy-in, and that buy-in isn’t there yet.
Democratic lawmakers have pushed for tougher ethics provisions and stronger consumer protections. Some have flagged what they see as national-security vulnerabilities baked into the current draft. Republican sponsors and crypto industry backers have pushed back hard, calling those concerns overblown or flat-out wrong. The gap between the two sides isn’t small. Any Senate movement now gets pushed to September at the earliest.
Wall Street Journal Editorial Adds Fuel
A Wall Street Journal editorial sharpened the debate further. It took aim at specific provisions in the CLARITY Act — particularly around stablecoin rewards and decentralized networks. Blockchain Association CEO Ji Kim fired back, calling the editorial’s claims inaccurate. That exchange probably didn’t move any undecided senators, but it kept the conversation loud.
The broader regulatory picture remains murky. The crypto industry has spent years arguing it can’t grow properly without a clear federal framework. The CLARITY Act was supposed to be that framework. But “supposed to be” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here — the bill’s path forward is genuinely unclear.
Ripple’s use of the 67 million figure is pretty deliberate. If you’re lobbying for regulatory clarity, you want lawmakers to see crypto holders not as a fringe group but as a mainstream constituency. The survey data gives that argument a number to anchor on. Whether Congress finds it persuasive is a different matter. Bipartisan support exists in the Banking Committee, but committee votes and floor votes are not the same thing.
The demographic shift in crypto ownership is real, and it’s been building for a while. More women, more older Americans, more people from outside the tech sector — that trend has been visible across multiple surveys over the past few years. The National Cryptocurrency Association’s data fits that pattern. It’s still worth separating “people who own some crypto” from “people who are actively lobbying for deregulation,” though. The survey counts holders. It doesn’t necessarily count advocates.
Alderoty’s argument is that the sheer size of the holder base demands regulatory attention. Sixty-seven million people is not a number politicians can easily dismiss, especially heading into a fresh legislative session. But the Democratic caucus has its own read on what those 67 million people actually want — and it probably involves consumer protections the current CLARITY Act draft doesn’t fully deliver.
When lawmakers come back from recess in September, the bill’s sponsors will need to decide whether to negotiate on the ethics and security provisions or hold firm and gamble on picking off enough Democratic votes. No details yet on which direction they’ll go.
The National Cryptocurrency Association’s survey covered 10,000 holders across the U.S., conducted between February 12 and March 3, 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who conducted the survey showing 67 million American crypto holders?
The National Cryptocurrency Association ran the survey with The Harris Poll, polling 10,000 U.S. crypto holders between February 12 and March 3, 2026.
Why is the CLARITY Act delayed in the Senate?
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said a vote won’t happen before the August recess, citing Democratic resistance over ethics, consumer protection, and national-security provisions in the bill.
