The world hates cryptocurrency? What should we do?
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The world hates cryptocurrency? What should we do?
Build products for new users, not for crypto natives.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Cooper
Translation: Luffy, Foresight News
Surprised? The world hates cryptocurrency.
This is an industry that thrives on volatility—the very thing that enabled so many to succeed during the roaring bull market.
Yet, the reason cryptocurrency enables rapid wealth creation in a short time is exactly why most of the world dislikes it.
Too Chaotic
Most people don't understand why you'd want to buy a digital item.
Physical items feel more permanent, and we're still years away from virtual goods holding real meaning in people's lives. People value the convenience social media offers—access to information and entertainment.
They don't value ownership of digital items.
This is largely because there's a widespread lack of belief that these items hold any value.
If 99% of the world believes something has no value, they won't care about the opinions of the remaining 1%. They also don’t want to hear your counterarguments or debates about why it’s valuable.
If it were valuable to them, they’d buy it.
Instead, most people encounter NFTs either through being "recruited" into their benefits, or when reading scam stories—often the only time NFTs break into their algorithmic feeds.
Too Complicated
Even if someone is willing to spend time understanding the benefits and intentions behind digital items, buying them is a nightmare.
Imagine being required to exchange into a new currency every time you wanted to buy something in daily life.
When people want to buy something on-chain, 99% of products immediately prompt them to download a wallet.
This instantly overwhelms them and kills any intention to purchase.
Now, you need to acquire an entirely new currency: ETH.
Nobody will spend more than 10 minutes doing something that plays an unclear role in their life.
While there are solutions to make this process easier, most crypto products hide email login and credit card checkout behind other crypto-native steps.
This is because 99% of crypto companies’ revenue comes from existing crypto users, so their entire product focuses on serving current on-chain users.
The problem with this approach is that it excludes the other 99% of the world who might be interested but lack the time, energy, or patience to overcome all these barriers.
Too Much Hype
Cryptocurrency has a major branding problem.
From the outside, people’s exposure to crypto comes primarily through individuals who have dedicated their lives and careers to crypto success.
This means they’re likely to encounter large numbers of people flaunting their PFPs, making it hard for anyone to take them seriously.
On top of that, they’re told about investment projects that represent “the future of ____,” which all feels like one big Ponzi scheme.
For anyone interested in trying, they must constantly dodge dozens of hyperactive Twitter accounts attempting to redirect readers’ attention toward the collections and tokens they’ve invested in most.
It’s like trying to buy groceries while being asked to sign 10 different petitions. People just want to buy frozen fruit for smoothies—they don’t want to be sold the latest, greatest blender while already owning a working one.
Too Distant
People struggle to understand how crypto technology solves real problems they haven’t personally encountered in their lives.
This is why cryptocurrency sees broader adoption in developing countries, where its impact on payment infrastructure is clearly visible. However, this represents only a small fraction of public discourse on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, making these narratives difficult to discover.
People don’t want to believe in some abstract future. They want to buy things in front of them—things that deliver value and a sense of belonging today.
The harsh reality is: today, cryptocurrency doesn’t offer them that value.
How to Solve This
Given all of the above, ask yourself: Am I really building for newcomers, or am I building for a small group of trained and experienced crypto veterans?
If the answer is the former, you need to realize that your focus on crypto-native audiences must take a back seat.
Historically, any project prioritizing on-chain users faces backlash. The community will claim the project has “sold out” or rejected early adopters.
While there may be some merit to this, it’s almost irrelevant.
Products that fail to attract new users won’t grow—and will eventually cease to exist.
Thus, the decision to intentionally shift toward attracting new users becomes clearer as network effects begin to form.
Once a wave of new users arrives, early adopters will cheer.
Because here’s another harsh reality: new users provide liquidity exits for native crypto users.
The more new capital entering the space, the greater the opportunity for crypto natives to sell their positions.
Further still, this is why it’s important to start reaching new users as early as possible in a product’s journey.
We should create a fairer playing field where both audiences benefit equally—instead of enriching today’s crypto natives at the expense of new users having a terrible first experience and never returning.
Mass Adoption of Cryptocurrency
It's hard to imagine a world where everything is on-chain. Making on-chain transactions seamless will require years of technological improvement.
Fortunately, a series of advancements suggest wallets will only become easier to use and networks cheaper to transact on.
But this doesn’t solve the issue of getting people to care.
Allowing users to log in and check out with credit cards is only a small part of the battle.
There needs to be a clear reason why people spend money and what they hope to gain from it. Today, those reasons remain as fuzzy as ever.
This leaves the industry more divided than ever—and most confusing for new users when they join.
A world of mass cryptocurrency adoption is seamless.
In this world, your wallet is integrated into your smartphone, and signing messages is as simple as using FaceID to unlock your iPhone.
But this world remains distant—until it becomes something anyone can talk about.
So, accept the fact that people hate cryptocurrency. See it clearly for what it is, and commit to finding new ways to address these challenges.
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