Ripple launches non-profit National Cryptocurrency Association

Cryptocurrency platform Ripple is launching a non-profit focused on educating Americans about the world of crypto.

The National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA) aims to offer educational tools and resources about crypto, share stories from crypto users and provide crypto data and statistics, said NCA President Stu Alderoty, who also serves as Ripple's chief legal officer.

“We think that it's important to make crypto accessible to the everyday American and demystify crypto,” Alderoty told The Hill. “There has been a narrative around crypto, that it's complex, it's geeky, crypto bros, etc.”

“Now I think more than ever, crypto is going mainstream, but there is a gap out there,” he continued. “There's no one place where folks can go to learn more about crypto, get educated about crypto, and also to amplify the voices of the 55 million Americans that own and use crypto.”

NCA’s website features answers to questions about crypto, including “What is crypto, and why should I care?” and “What’s a wallet, and why do I need one?”

It also acknowledges the industry’s troubled past with questions about avoiding crypto scams and “crypto fraudsters, bankruptcies, and people going to jail.”

The non-profit is seeking to distinguish itself from other crypto organizations, such as Stand with Crypto and Blockchain Association, emphasizing that it is not a political or lobbying organization and does not represent crypto companies or protocols.

“Not only are we politically agnostic, we're agnostic to protocol and company,” Alderoty said. “We're here to amplify the voices of the everyday Americans who own and use crypto and to be a source of information and education for the crypto curious.”

“I think we're gonna find a lot more folks in the United States becoming crypto curious as the U.S. starts leaning to become a more pro-crypto country,” he added.

Crypto has become a key priority for President Trump since taking office. Despite once dismissing crypto as a “scam,” Trump came to embrace the industry during his 2024 campaign.

He has since become a vocal proponent of crypto, naming venture capitalist David Sacks as his crypto and artificial intelligence (AI) czar and tasking him with developing a legal framework for the industry.

On Sunday, Trump announced his plans to create a crypto strategic reserve, including XRP, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin and Ethereum. XRP is Ripple’s token.

Trump’s strategic reserve has received a mixed response from the crypto world. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse touted the idea, saying he appreciates the president’s “vision of a govt digital asset reserve representative of the industry.”

However, others pushed back on the idea of holding tokens other than bitcoin. Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of crypto exchange Gemini, argued Monday that bitcoin is the only digital asset that is suitable for a strategic reserve.

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