Picture the crypto workforce, and you probably imagine engineers in a Silicon Valley office or maybe financial traders around Wall Street. Now add a bank teller, a healthcare worker, and a lawyer, because every crypto job supports six more across the economy. 

Crypto companies in the United States employ about 34,000 Americans - and including the money they spend and the wages their employees take home, that number grows to 232,000 jobs stretching from California to the Carolinas, contributing more than $55 billion to the U.S. economy in 2026, with $31 billion reaching workers as income. 

We partnered with Pragmatic Policy Group (PPG) to analyze crypto's impact on the U.S. workforce, and the resulting Crypto at Work report is the first to map the industry's full footprint in the American labor market. 

The study measured the crypto industry's contributions to employment, wages, and economic output nationwide, using the same widely established approach economists use to measure the footprint of established industries.

If you’ve ever been curious about what a career in crypto could look like, read on to learn more. 

Crypto Supports Jobs Across Industries and States

The 232,000 figure covers three kinds of work, and most of it sits outside crypto companies themselves:

  • Jobs at crypto companies, including firms like Coinbase and Ripple, account for 34,000 people hired directly, from software engineers to compliance and operations staff.

  • Jobs at their suppliers add another 75,000, at the businesses that crypto companies buy from, like cloud computing providers, law firms, and accountants.

  • Jobs supported by their spending add a further 123,000, sustained when everyone in that chain spends their paycheck on groceries, housing, restaurants, and healthcare.

That works out to roughly six additional American jobs for every job inside a crypto company. These include both new roles and existing ones that crypto activity supports, and they span far beyond tech, into customer service, insurance, healthcare, food service, trucking and logistics.

Crypto-supported work reaches every region of the country, from established coastal hubs to the heartland:

  • California: 57,600 jobs

  • New York: 53,800 jobs

  • Texas: 26,500 jobs

  • Washington: 15,100 jobs

  • North Carolina: 9,500 jobs

  • Colorado: 5,800 jobs

  • Heartland states: more than 17,000 jobs combined

Crypto Jobs Pay Above Average - and Add Billions to the Economy

Average pay across these jobs comes to $133,000, more than double the national median wage of $64,000. For comparison, the report puts average wages at $104,000 in the information sector, $76,000 in manufacturing, $54,000 in retail trade, and $49,000 in leisure and hospitality.

Those wages add up to $31 billion in worker income, which circulates back into local economies through spending on housing, groceries, and everyday services.

The industry's total contribution to the U.S. economy comes to $55 billion in 2026, and most of it lands in industries that have been around far longer than crypto has. Platforms where people trade and invest take the largest share at $9.7 billion, followed by banks and lenders at $5.3 billion. Housing accounts for $3 billion, likely reflecting spending by crypto-connected workers on rent and home purchases.

Crypto's Reach - Beyond the Crypto Industry

The jobs data tells one part of the story. The other is how broadly crypto has already spread into everyday life, with 67 million Americans already holding and using crypto today.

The workplace connection runs deeper than employment. Two in five merchants already accept crypto at checkout, and 37% of holders plan to send crypto to employees in the next year.

Large companies are moving in the same direction. Roughly 60% of Fortune 500 companies pursued a crypto or blockchain initiative in 2025, according to Coinbase's State of Crypto report. Our own merchant survey with PayPal found half of large enterprises already accepting crypto at checkout, and 84% of merchants expect crypto payments to become common within five years.

Key Takeaways

Crypto is not a niche industry operating outside the American economy. It is woven into it.

Crypto is woven into the American economy. The 232,000 jobs it supports stretch well beyond engineering and finance into customer service, compliance, insurance, healthcare, and operations. The wages those workers earn, averaging $133,000, circulate back into local economies through housing, groceries, and everyday spending.

And the footprint extends into every region of the country. From California and New York to the heartland states of Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan, crypto-supported work is spread across the country. It looks like the rest of America.

Explore the findings in our Crypto at Work report to learn more.