Hey RafiOnChain here. And I want to talk about a report that dropped this week that I think deserves way more attention than it's getting.

The National Cryptocurrency Association just released its 2026 State of Crypto Holders Report. They surveyed 10,000 US cryptocurrency holders with The Harris Poll between February 12th and March 3rd 2026. The findings are remarkable not just for the headline number but for what they say about WHO is in crypto now and HOW they are using it.

Because the picture looks nothing like what most people imagine when they think about who owns crypto.

The Headline Number

More than 67 million Americans now own cryptocurrency. That's an increase of 12 million holders compared to 2025. One year. 12 million new people. To put that in perspective that's the entire population of Pennsylvania joining the crypto economy in a single year.

One in four US adults now holds crypto. Last year when the NCA published their first report it was one in five. Stuart Alderoty, President of the NCA, put it plainly: "Last year we found one in five U.S. adults were holding crypto, and now it's up to one in four. And they come from all walks of life, spanning regions, genders, incomes, political party lines and beyond."

That last part matters. The days of crypto being a homogenous demographic are over.

The Part That Surprised Me Most

Here's the finding that honestly caught me off guard.

More Americans over 55 hold crypto than under 25. Ali Tager, VP of External Affairs at the NCA, said it directly at the Bitcoin Conference: "More people over 55 are using crypto than under 25, which is absolutely shocking."

The conventional wisdom has always been that crypto is a young person's game. Gen Z and Millennials chasing speculative gains. The data says the opposite is true right now. Older Americans are holding crypto by volume while younger Americans are driving everyday usage. Those are two completely different behaviors from two different generations and both are happening simultaneously.

The generational breakdown of new 2025 to 2026 adopters is actually pretty balanced. Millennials make up 30% of new adopters. Gen Z accounts for 29%. Gen X comes in at 26%. And Baby Boomers at 13%. That is not a young person's market anymore. That is a mass market.

The Demographics Nobody Is Talking About

The income picture is the one that challenges the narrative most directly.

90% of crypto holders earn less than $500,000 per year. Nearly a quarter, 23% specifically, earn $75,000 or less. This is not a rich person's asset class. This is not Silicon Valley tech workers buying Bitcoin with their stock options. The majority of American crypto holders are regular income households.

The career breakdown reinforces this. Today's holders are just as likely to work in construction and manufacturing, 21% of holders, as they are in tech and financial services combined, 26%. Crypto has spread far beyond the industries that built it.

Female participation is accelerating fast. Among people who entered crypto between 2025 and 2026, women represented 42% of new holders. Among those who entered before 2025 the female share was 34%. That's an 8 percentage point jump in new adopter demographics in a single year. Female crypto ownership is up 10% overall since last year.

From Investment to Utility

This is the shift that I think matters most for where crypto goes from here.

Four in ten holders are now actively using crypto in daily transactions. Not holding. Using. Sending crypto to friends and family, paying for goods and services in stores and online, accepting crypto payments for business transactions.

Nearly one-third of holders reported participating in NFT trading, playing blockchain-based games, or accepting crypto payments for business activity. 19% have made charitable donations through cryptocurrency.

40% of merchants are already accepting crypto payments, helped in part by Jack Dorsey's Square which now supports Bitcoin payments across all of their terminals.

Ali Tager described it as the industry entering an "everyday utility" phase. That phrase matters because it signals a fundamental shift in why people hold crypto. When you're using something to pay for groceries or send money to your family, the speculative angle becomes secondary. The utility creates a baseline demand floor that pure speculation never had.

What People Actually Think Now

The sentiment data in this report is worth sitting with because it's very different from the doom and fear that dominated Q1 2026 market sentiment.

63% of holders report greater interest in crypto this year compared to 2025. That's during the worst quarter since 2018. During 46 days of extreme fear. During a 22% Bitcoin drawdown. 63% are more interested not less.

69% of people surveyed believe crypto is now "established and mature." 75% believe it is "proven and reliable." These are not the words of a speculative fringe. These are the words of a mainstream financial tool that a quarter of the American adult population has decided to own.

90% of holders plan to buy more crypto in the next year. 82% expect the overall market to increase over the next five years. 76% want their bank to let them buy and hold crypto alongside their regular accounts. 42% say crypto has given them a stronger sense of security and control over their finances, up from 35% in 2025.

87% of crypto holders plan to use their crypto across a variety of ways including purchasing, gifts, donations, and payroll.

The Barrier That Remains

Despite all of this growth the report identifies one persistent problem. Education.

Many Americans still avoid crypto because they simply do not understand how it works or how to use it safely. Trust rises when crypto becomes connected to mainstream financial brands. PayPal. Visa. Traditional banks. The NCA partnered with Coinbase and Operation HOPE specifically to close the crypto knowledge gap in underserved communities.

This is actually the bullish read on these numbers. If 67 million Americans own crypto during a year when the market spent 46 days in extreme fear, when Bitcoin fell 22% in a single quarter, when every headline was about war and crashes and liquidations, what does adoption look like when macro conditions actually improve? When Schwab's $8 trillion client base gets full access to spot crypto? When 401k plans start offering Bitcoin options? When the CLARITY Act removes regulatory uncertainty?

The 67 million number was built during some of the worst market conditions in years. The floor is rising regardless of price.

My Honest Take

I've been in crypto long enough to remember when the argument was whether it would ever reach mainstream adoption. That argument is over. One in four American adults owning crypto is mainstream adoption. The question now is what the second quarter of that adoption curve looks like.

The demographics in this report tell the real story. It's not young tech bros anymore. It's construction workers and Baby Boomers and women entering the market at record rates and people earning $75,000 a year using it to send money to their families. That is a financial technology that has escaped its original demographic and is now general purpose.

The price will do what the price does. But the adoption curve underneath it is moving in one direction and it has been for three years straight. 12 million new holders in a single year during the hardest conditions the market has faced since FTX. That number tells you something real about where this is going.

Are you one of the 67 million? How are you actually using crypto day to day? Drop below. 🚀