Promoting Everyday Crypto Use: The Path to Mainstream Adoption
Summary:
The article discusses the parallels between the adoption of debit cards in the 1970s and the current state of cryptocurrencies, emphasizing the need for practical applications to drive widespread adoption. It explains the barriers faced by cryptocurrency, including a lack of widespread understanding and awareness, as well as a lack of robust infrastructure for practical daily use. The article suggests that individuals dedicated to Web3 must create tools that give consumers the ability to control their money, data, and identity for widespread adoption to become a reality, which emphasizes the need for proper infrastructure and physical-first developments.
Swipe-and-go debit cards are now a mainstay in most retail and physical stores, easing our everyday transactions. However, this wasn't always the status quo. In their early version back in the 1970s, debit cards were only compatible with Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), due to costly and scarce point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Today, the Web3 payment track finds itself in a comparable situation. Despite online retailers like Microsoft, Shopify, and Overstock accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments, common practical uses such as paying for groceries or housecleaning services in cryptocurrency are not feasible.
This limitation is influenced by scant knowledge and negative perceptions about cyber thefts and frauds linked to crypto. The primary constraint, though, is the insufficient availability and adoption of sturdy infrastructures like crypto-specific POS terminals. Industry influencers often overlook the fact that there's no swift fix to gain mainstream users on a large scale.
A notable point of contention arose in May when a user classified crypto as a scam, echoing the sentiments learned from 2021. This highlights the need for Web3 builders to prioritize enhancing everyday consumer experiences and step away from solely digital products. Universal adoption will only occur when all stakeholders, including project owners, developers, and investors, concentrate on maximizing practical utility. Similar to how POS machines complemented debit cards, accumulating yet another cryptocurrency with no corresponding, accessible infrastructure is meaningless, barring speculative purposes.
Web3 certainly faces formidable economic and political rivals, justifying the passion to amass as many users as swiftly as possible. However, introducing one "must-have" narrative after another doesn't facilitate the steady, prompt maturity the industry requires. This approach merely garners short-term users and fails to promote lasting, long-term engagement. The average consumer isn't concerned about the upcoming protocol that will forever modify how layer-2 sequencers process roll-up transactions, nor do they need to decipher the meaning behind industry-specific terms. Consequently, purely hypothetical tools and institutional products like ETFs are only appealing to a select audience of traders and high-capital investors, effectively alienating everyday people.
Given the plethora of such narratives flooding Web3, which makes distinguishing between them a challenge, it's unsurprising that fewer people are Google searching crypto or joining YouTube channels focused on crypto. Therefore, Web3 projects need to shun imposing so-called "futuristic" narratives on uninterested users. They need to implement infrastructure that integrates crypto into daily life and facilitates the 560+ million cryptocurrency owners worldwide to fully utilize their coins for practical means and purposes, beyond mere volatility chasing.
Web3 is presently very tech-focused, causing divisions between institutional and grassroots adoption. While institutional integration can be advantageous, it mustn't be the end goal of Web3. Core Web3 principles advocate for empowering individuals to manage their finances, personal data, and identity, an expectation that centralized, profit-driven institutions may not fulfill consistently.
Those within the Web3 community have the obligation to develop user-facing infrastructure, and investors should support those efforts rather than only funding the newest, flashiest projects. High-profile decentralized projects are making strides in the digital sphere and it's essential that physical-first developments keep pace. Having Web3-native POS terminals would enable retail stores to accept crypto payments without worrying about legal issues or technical difficulties.
Paired with POS terminals could be tangible cards that enable consumers to spend their cryptocurrency, enhancing its meaningfulness and utility for mainstream users. This creates a positive feedback loop, where the more people can use crypto, the more empowered they become. With more empowered users, adoption rates will increase and create a snowball effect. It's not a matter of "if" this will happen, but "when". Advocacy for efficient final-step infrastructure from all parties, particularly users, will foster Web3’s growth and maturity.
Peko Wan, co-CEO of Pundi X and former Opera Software and Ogilvy & Mather employee, concluded her master's degree at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages and Literature at Taiwan's National Sun Yat-sen University. This article serves as a general source of information and should not be viewed as legal or investment advice. The perspectives expressed in the article are the author's own and may not reflect or represent Cointelegraph's views and opinions.
Published At
6/30/2024 10:40:23 PM
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