A leading cryptocurrency business has launched a new nonprofit group, joining an increasingly crowded environment around crypto advocacy. 

The National Cryptocurrency Association, whose creation was announced earlier this month, says its goal is “boosting crypto literacy and safe adoption across the country,” according to a release. “The NCA will demystify crypto and serve as a resource for anyone and everyone using, holding, or wanting to learn more.”

NCA is seeded with a $50 million contribution by Ripple, a cryptocurrency platform; Stuart Alderoty, the company’s chief legal officer, also serves as NCA’s president. He told The Hill March 5 that he hopes the association can help address negative PR that has followed cryptocurrency. “We think that it’s important to make crypto accessible to the everyday American and demystify crypto,” he said. “There has been a narrative around crypto, that it’s complex, it’s geeky, crypto bros, etc.” 

NCA is registered as a 501(c)(4), which allows for unlimited donations, and is also not required to disclose its donors. It joins an increasing number of nonprofits in the industry, including Stand With Crypto, which tracks Congressional activity and encourages citizens to advocate for crypto-friendly legislation; Blockchain Association, a trade group representing related businesses; the Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association, a standard-setting group; and the American Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Association, which represents investors and also conducts advocacy.

All of that activity reflects the fact that the White House has increasingly warmed to the cryptocurrency industry, with President Donald Trump recently announcing a strategic reserve of seized crypto assets and hosting a summit of industry leaders earlier this month. NCA is distinct from other groups in its marketing of crypto on the level of everyday citizens; its website has no content around specific policies or information about its leadership, but includes multiple videos of people discussing how crypto is “impacting real people and changing lives beyond the headlines.”

To bolster that message, NCA launched in tandem with the release of a Harris Poll it commissioned of 10,000 crypto users. According to the release, the survey found that “one in five American adults already use crypto and 76 percent of users say it has positively impacted their lives.”

Ripple has its own cryptocurrency platform, called XRP, which is one of the currencies included in the White House’s planned strategic reserve. Ripple has also been in ongoing litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegedly unlawful sales of XRP. Last week news reports announced that the SEC and Ripple were close to settling the case, which has run for nearly four years.

Regardless, Alderoty told The Hill that NCA’s goal is not to promote XRP. “Not only are we politically agnostic, we’re agnostic to protocol and company,” he 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.”

[istock/BlackJack3D]