U.S. Crypto Employs 34,000, Adds $55B to GDP by 2026

The National Cryptocurrency Association commissioned Pragmatic Policy Group to estimate the economic footprint of U.S. crypto. The report finds 34,000 direct jobs and projects the industry will add more than $55 billion to U.S. gross domestic product in 2026, with about $31 billion of that amount flowing to workers as income. When supplier industries and household spending are included, the study estimates the sector supports a total of 232,000 jobs.

Pragmatic Policy Group based its model on the Bureau of Economic Analysis 2024 input-output tables and used a $23.22 billion U.S. crypto revenue figure as the initial input. Because the BEA does not classify crypto as a separate industry, the analysis mapped crypto activity to existing sectors such as securities and commodity contracts, credit intermediation, and data processing and internet publishing. The report allocated 97% of financial-related crypto revenue to securities and commodity contracts and 3% to data processing.

The study distinguishes direct employment from broader job impacts. It attributes 75,000 roles to supplier industries and 123,000 roles to household spending by crypto workers. The authors note those additional jobs are multiplier effects and do not represent direct hires by crypto companies.

The occupational breakdown covers both direct and supported roles. Across the 232,000 supported positions, office and administrative support is the largest category at 29,260 jobs, followed by business and financial operations at 21,650 and management at 20,890. Transportation and material moving jobs total 18,560, while food preparation and serving jobs account for 16,910. Within the 34,000 direct crypto roles, software, blockchain and data engineering are the largest group at 10,100, with compliance, finance and business operations at 5,450 and executives and managers at 5,100.

The report puts the average annual wage across all supported jobs at $133,000, compared with a national median of about $64,000. PPG clarifies that the wage figure covers the full set of supported roles rather than only employees at crypto firms and that the total includes lower-wage occupations such as janitorial and food service.

Geographically, California and New York account for the largest shares of supported jobs, with 57,649 and 53,766 positions respectively. Texas follows with 26,536 supported jobs, Washington with 15,097 and North Carolina with 9,524. The 12 states PPG groups as the Heartland together support more than 17,000 jobs. Colorado supports 5,797 jobs and $1.3 billion in economic contribution; the report notes Denver hosts 131 blockchain firms backed by $571 million in investment as of 2025 and that the state accepts crypto for tax payments. North Dakota is listed with 813 jobs and $154 million in contribution, citing a proposed 700MW facility by Atlas Power and a planned state-backed digital coin project with Fiserv.

PPG warns that occupational allocations are modeling assumptions mapped to technology-oriented sectors because a dedicated crypto workforce profile does not exist in the BEA framework. The model also assumes production relationships and industry structure remain at 2024 levels. The study was funded by the NCA, and PPG states its analysis was conducted independently. Stu Alderoty, president of the NCA and chief legal officer at Ripple, described the industry as having a “real, positive impact on American jobs, wages, and economic growth.” Oliver Browne, PPG's chief economist, estimated each direct crypto job generates about six additional roles across the broader economy.