Let's be real — most people feel lost when it comes to crypto. The language sounds like another planet, the research feels overwhelming, and the loudest voices often make it seem like you need to be in finance or deep in the tech world just to keep up.
But here's the truth: crypto isn't just for experts or insiders — it's for you. Whether you're crypto-curious, crypto-confused, or somewhere in between, this is your space to see how crypto can actually fit into your everyday life.
Each week we'll break it down, keep it simple, and help you become crypto confident.
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2: 7 Things You Need to Know About Blockchain (Explaining It In Plain English)
Épisode 2
mercredi 5 novembre 2025 • Durée 25:54
Almost half of people in the U.S. who don't own or use crypto say they don't understand how it all works. Nearly 70% say they'd want more information before they'd even consider getting involved. And about a third are open to learning, but the truth is… overall confidence in understanding the tech is still pretty low.
That's a huge number of people basically saying, 'I've heard the word blockchain, but I couldn't explain it even if my life depended on it.' And honestly? We get it. The word itself sounds complicated, the headlines make it feel intimidating, and the crypto hype doesn't exactly make it easier to trust. But, as crypto is becoming more mainstream, it's time that someone clearly explains what it is.
So in today's episode, we're stripping it all down. No jargon, no tech headaches, just 7 simple things you need to know about blockchain. By the end of this,hopefully you'll be able to explain it in plain English for yourself. We promise: you'll walk away from this episode with a clear, no-BS understanding of what this is all is and why it matters.
What's Discussed:
03:45 – The Biggest Myth About Blockchain, Debunked
07:10 – Blockchain Explained: The Giant Digital Notebook
12:25 – What "Decentralized" Really Means (In Plain English)
17:40 – The Google Doc Analogy That Makes Blockchain Click
22:55 – Every Transaction Is a Lego Brick That Locks in Forever
28:30 – How Blockchain Balances Privacy and Transparency
33:45 – Real-World Blockchain: How Crypto Is Modernizing Ranching
Learn more about the National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA):
Disclaimer:This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice.
1: What Is Crypto, Really?
Épisode 1
mercredi 5 novembre 2025 • Durée 37:28
If you've ever wondered what crypto actually is, why it matters, and why everyone has an opinion about it—this episode is for you.
With expert guest Stuart Alderoty, President of the National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA) and Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, we break down what crypto is, how blockchain works, and why it's becoming part of everyday life.
You'll learn how to explain crypto to your grandma, what gives crypto its value, how it cuts out middlemen to make transactions faster and cheaper, and hear real stories of people using it for freedom, security, and opportunity.
Whether you're curious, skeptical, or starting from zero, this episode will finally make crypto make sense with this Crypto 101 crash course — no jargon, charts, or hype.
What's Discussed:
03:10 – From Wall Street to Blockchain: A Big Shift
08:25 – Quickfire Myths, Mistakes, and Must-Knows
12:10 – Explaining Crypto So Even Your Grandma Gets It
18:45 – What Actually Gives Crypto Its Value
25:30 – 5 Surprising Ways People Use Crypto Every Day
33:15 – "Trustless" Sounds Bad… Until You Hear This
Welcome to Crypto, Explained by the National Cryptocurrency Association
mardi 28 octobre 2025 • Durée 02:16
Let's be real — most people feel lost when it comes to crypto. The language sounds like another planet, the research feels overwhelming, and the loudest voices often make it seem like you need to be in finance or deep in the tech world just to keep up.
But here's the truth: Crypto isn't just for experts or insiders — it's for you. Whether you're crypto-curious, crypto-confused, or somewhere in between, this is your space to see how crypto can actually fit into your everyday life.
The National Cryptocurrency Association was created to help Americans make sense of crypto by sharing real stories of how it benefits your everyday life and supporting the communities with the most to gain. It's our goal to provide educational resources to help you navigate the jargon and complexity and to make sure you stay informed with what happens next.
On this show, we'll tackle the questions you've always had but maybe felt too embarrassed to ask. We'll bust the big myths, like "crypto is just a scam," break down the headlines so they actually make sense, and show you the practical ways crypto and blockchain are already showing up in everyday life.
So whether you're just dipping your toes in or you've been curious for years but never knew where to start, this podcast is your guide. Each week we'll break it down, keep it simple, and help you become crypto confident.
New episodes drop every week — so hit follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and together we will discover how crypto fits into your money, your world, and your future.
For a lot of people, the word wealth puts up a wall. It sounds like a club you were never invited to, something for people who already have money and already know the language. But NCA's research found that when everyday crypto holders describe how the technology makes them feel about their financial lives, the top words are not rich or wealthy. They are proud and confident, with 83% reporting they feel that way.
Ali sits down with Dr. Tonya Evans to understand where that confidence comes from. Tonya is a former tenured law professor who spent nearly two decades in legal academia before pivoting fully into digital assets. She built the first blockchain, cryptocurrency, and law certificate program at a US law school, wrote Digital Money Demystified, and hosts the SiriusXM podcast Confidently Crypto. Her origin story is its own hook: an intellectual property lawyer researching orphan works in copyright who tumbled into a two-week rabbit hole over one holiday and came out convinced this technology would change the world.
The heart of the conversation is a distinction most people never learn: the difference between income and wealth. Tonya explains why wealth is less about a windfall and more about ownership and control, how capital assets are meant to work harder than the hours you trade for a paycheck, and why crypto is taxed in the US as a capital asset rather than a currency, a detail she says trips up newcomers constantly. She is candid about risk, too. She walks through the myths she wrote her book to address, from proof-of-work energy concerns to the idea that crypto is only for criminals, and offers a memorable rebuttal on which asset bad actors actually prefer.
The through-line is trust: trusting the technology, trusting the information, and, hardest of all, learning to trust yourself with your own financial decisions. Tonya makes the case that new technology can expand access, but access without understanding only deepens the gaps it was meant to close, which is why she keeps returning to literacy as the thing that actually builds and protects wealth. Read Digital Money Demystified or find free Crypto 101 courses at nca.org. Because crypto was always meant to be for everyone, including you. Learn more at nca.org.
What We Discuss:
0:00 — Wealth Without Gatekeepers
42: The Crypto Course With Nothing to Sell You
mercredi 12 août 2026 • Durée 45:05
Sixty-seven million Americans use crypto today, roughly one in four adults, up from one in five a year ago. But NCA's 2026 State of Crypto Holders research found that more than a third of those owners say the thing holding them back from using it more is not money or access. It is that they still do not really understand what they own. Adoption is running ahead of understanding, which almost never happens with a credit card or a 401(k).
Ali sits down with Kara Calvert, Head of US Policy at Coinbase, and Kevin Boucher, Chief Strategy and Communications Officer at Operation HOPE, to unpack why more crypto content has not closed that gap, and what three organizations with very different incentives built to try. Kevin traces Operation HOPE's roots back more than three decades of financial literacy work and describes the moment at a special edition Hope Global Forum when the industry and regulators sat at the same table for the first time. His read on what happened next: the government hesitated, chose to do nothing, and communities were caught in the middle.
Kara makes an unusually candid case for why Coinbase did not simply build this alone. People see educational material from an exchange and wonder what is being sold to them, so a credible third party was the missing piece. She also walks through the pattern she has watched repeat for decades, from her grandmother who lived to 102 and never once carried a credit card, through chip and PIN, through tap to pay, and why she thinks people arrive at crypto for the same reason they adopted each of those. The conversation gets specific on scams, too. Kevin explains why scammers stay a step ahead and which populations get targeted hardest, Kara covers what to actually do in the first hours after you are defrauded, and Ali shares the impersonation scam using NCA's own name that landed in her inbox the day before recording.
The last stretch zooms out to financial inclusion, a phrase Kevin argues means different things depending on who you ask. His framing is that new technology can expand access, but access without understanding only deepens the gaps it was supposed to close. That is the thinking behind the free course now running through Operation HOPE's network of coaches across 300 cities and 1,500 locations, people who live in the communities they serve, with no product to sell. Take the course yourself at operationhope.org or find more free Crypto 101 material at nca.org. Because crypto was always meant to be for everyone, including you. Learn more at nca.org.
33: Crypto Policy Explained: What You Need to Know with Zunera Mazhar
mercredi 10 juin 2026 • Durée 53:48
For a long time, the honest answer to "how is crypto regulated in the United States?" was some version of "it's complicated, it's evolving, the rules aren't clear yet." That answer is finally starting to change.
In this episode of Crypto, Explained, host Ali Tager sits down with Zunera Mazhar, VP of Policy and Government Affairs at The Digital Chamber, to make sense of where crypto policy actually stands right now. Zunera spent more than two decades across banking and government, including serving at the FDIC as its first Deputy Chief Innovation Officer, so she has watched this shift happen from the inside.
Ali and Zunera start with the headline most people have missed: real legislation is moving. The CLARITY Act, the market structure bill that aims to settle who regulates what, cleared the Senate Banking Committee in a bipartisan 15 to 9 vote, and the industry is hopeful it will pass. They also cover the news that crypto derivatives are coming back onshore, and what that means for the billions in liquidity that returns to the U.S.
From there, Zunera takes on the biggest misconception she hears, that crypto does not want to be regulated. Coming from a regulator background, she explains why the opposite is true, and why the industry has been asking for clear rules all along. The conversation breaks down why the SEC and the CFTC treat crypto so differently, why Bitcoin gets classified as a commodity while many other tokens look more like securities, and how a tokenized money market fund is closer than you think.
The throughline is what all of this means for everyday people. Ali and Zunera talk through the nearly 20 percent of U.S. adults who are unbanked or underbanked, how blockchain solved real access problems overseas before regulation ever caught up, and how someone nervous about getting started can take it slow. The takeaway is simple. Crypto policy in the U.S. is evolving, not disappearing. The space is maturing, not fading. And the people who take the time to understand what is actually happening are the ones who will feel most confident navigating it.
What We Discuss:
0:00 - Intro & Clip: The Crypto Industry DOES Want Regulation
32: Decoding the 5 Most Common Crypto Assets
mercredi 3 juin 2026 • Durée 08:38
If you've ever sat through a crypto conversation feeling like everyone else got handed a glossary you didn't, you're not alone. Terms like altcoin, memecoin, NFT, and ETF get tossed around constantly, but the truth is they're all just different flavors of the same world.
In this episode of Crypto, Explained, host Ali Tager pulls together five of the most common digital asset types and lines them up side by side so you can finally see the full picture. We start with the difference between a coin and a token, two terms that get used interchangeably but actually describe different things. A coin runs on its own blockchain, like Bitcoin on the Bitcoin network or XRP on the XRP Ledger, while a token lives on top of an existing one, more like an app running on an iPhone's operating system.
From there, we unpack NFTs, the one-of-a-kind digital assets that can't be swapped one-for-one, and why their use cases now stretch far beyond digital art into tickets, credentials, ownership records, and in-game items. We also dig into memecoins, a more volatile and culture-driven corner of crypto, and why they are often a first introduction to the space but also the area where new holders need to be the most careful.
The conversation rounds out with altcoins, the catch-all term for any cryptocurrency that isn't Bitcoin, and ETFs, which aren't actually a type of crypto at all but a traditional investment product that holds crypto on your behalf. By the end, you'll have a clear mental map of how these assets relate to one another, and the confidence to keep up the next time these terms come up in conversation.
What We Discuss:
[0:00] Intro
[0:32] What is a crypto asset?
[1:37] Today's 5 terms overview
[1:37] Term 1: Token vs. Coin
[2:41] Term 2: NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens)
[3:43] Term 3: Meme Coins
[4:52] Term 4: Altcoins
[6:09] Term 5: ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)
[7:24] Recap
31: The Surprising Way Ranchers Are Using Blockchain
mercredi 27 mai 2026 • Durée 55:34
When you think about crypto, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn't cattle ranching. But that is exactly where some of the most interesting real-world blockchain use cases are happening right now.
In this episode of Crypto, Explained, host Ali Tager sits down with Rob Jennings, President and Co-founder of CattleProof Verified, and Dr. Evan Whitley, Executive Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. CattleProof Verified is the first and only USDA-certified Process Verified Program that uses blockchain tech to create a trusted, audit-ready digital record of an animal's full story, from the pasture it was born into to the grocery store it ends up in.
Rob and Evan walk through the problem blockchain technology actually solves. For decades, ranchers in the "cattle breadbasket" of America have been paid commodity prices for premium cattle because their story could not be verified at scale. Now by logging each animal's data onto a blockchain through tamper-resistant electronic ID tags, CattleProof creates an immutable, individual record for every animal, not just a group certificate that anyone could photocopy.
From there, the conversation goes deeper into what changes on the ground. Choctaw Nation runs seven ranches across 65,000 acres and 2,500 cows, and Evan explains why adopting the system added almost no friction to their existing workflow. We also dig into the broader implications: faster disease traceability for food safety outbreaks, new export opportunities for small and medium producers, and how blockchain-based payments could eventually help ranchers settle faster, access better loan rates, and finally get paid what their work is worth.
Rob and Evan close on a bigger idea. Blockchain is not just for finance or speculation. It is a railroad that can carry value and information for any industry, and cattle ranching is one of the clearest, most grounded examples of that already working in the real world.
What We Discuss:
(0:00) – Intro & episode teaser
(0:19) – Welcome to Crypto Explained
(1:09) – From ranch to grocery store: the blockchain journey
(1:49) – Ranchers as unexpected blockchain pioneers
30: What the FBI Wants You to Know About Crypto Safety
mercredi 20 mai 2026 • Durée 01:00:58
Most online safety advice falls into one of two camps. It is either too vague to be useful, or so overwhelming that you tune it out before you can act on it. The truth sits somewhere in the middle.
In this episode of Crypto, Explained, host Ali Tager sits down with Patrick Wyman, Chief of the Virtual Assets Unit at the FBI, and Travis Wiehn, Supervisory Special Agent at the FBI, for a candid conversation about what online scams actually look like in 2026 and the small set of habits that protect against most of them. The Virtual Assets Unit was established in 2022 as the FBI's dedicated team for crypto and digital asset cases, and Patrick and Travis walk through what their work really looks like, from tracing illicit value on the blockchain to freezing assets and returning them to victims.
The conversation gets practical fast. Travis lays out three foundational habits anyone can build: delete the suspicious wrong-number texts, ignore unsolicited investment DMs, and always go directly to your platform rather than clicking links in emails. Patrick reinforces it with the FBI's Take a Beat campaign, built around the simple act of pausing before reacting to anything urgent. We also dig into how AI is reshaping the threat landscape, from deepfakes and voice cloning to grandparent emergency scams that sound real.
From there, the conversation turns to the harder topics: how to talk to aging parents and kids about scams, the value of a family code word, and what the Internet Crime Complaint Centers (IC3) 2025 report reveals about where these crimes are headed. Patrick and Travis explain why reporting still matters even when results take time.
What We Discuss:
(0:00) - Intro & teaser (deepfake/LinkedIn story)
(0:30) - Welcome & episode overview: Crypto scams
(2:37) - Introducing guests: FBI's Virtual Asset Unit
(2:38) - What is the FBI Virtual Asset Unit? (Patrick)
(9:18) - Day-to-day casework at the VAU (Travis)
(14:47) - What do you wish more people knew about this work?
(20:47) - What does staying safe online actually look like?
29: Who Uses Crypto, Really? with Stu Alderoty
mercredi 13 mai 2026 • Durée 50:46
Two years ago, the picture of a typical crypto holder was a 25-year-old guy in his mom's basement, chasing meme coins and dreaming of a Lambo. The data today tells a very different story.
In this episode of Crypto, Explained, host Ali Tager sits down with returning co-host Stu Alderoty, President of the National Cryptocurrency Association and Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, to unpack the brand new 2026 State of Crypto Holders Report. Last year's headline was 1 in 5 American adults. This year it is 1 in 4, with more than 67 million U.S. adults holding crypto.
Ali and Stu walk through who these new holders actually are, and the picture is nothing like the common stereotype. Construction workers outpace finance professionals, more than a quarter of holders earn under $75,000 a year, and 28 percent are 55 or older. We also dig into what they are doing with their crypto, from sending money to friends and family to paying for everyday goods, and why the data shows people are using it, not just holding it.
From there, the conversation turns to the why behind the shift. Financial independence, personal growth, and the excitement of being part of something innovative are all up year over year, signaling that the motivation has moved from getting rich quick to building something for yourself. Stu also draws on his decades in traditional finance to explain why the line between TradFi and crypto is blurring, and why regulation may be the last domino for the crypto-curious still on the sidelines.
What We Discuss:
(0:00) – Intro: Crypto's normalization moment (cell phones vs. crypto comparison)
(0:32) – The old image of crypto: who people thought was using it
(1:44) – "Something is happening" – not a craze, a structural shift
(2:36) – Interview begins with Stu Alderoty (NCA / Ripple)
(2:52) – The big headline: 1 in 4 Americans now own crypto
(12:55) – Who actually owns crypto? The surprising demographic breakdown
(17:01) – Manufacturing workers & blue collar crypto usage data
