"Crypto mass adoption" and why I don't think about it.
What makes me 100% sure that we’re still early in this space is how hard it is to actually use crypto. Which is why I don’t even bother using the phrase “crypto mass adoption.”
I’m not even talking about real-world usage like, “Oh, but where can you actually use this to pay for stuff?” That part is easier to solve. Some companies are already doing a good job here with debit and credit card integrations.
When I say crypto is hard, I’m talking about how you interact with dapps and what it takes to hold your coins outside of a centralized exchange.
Think about it. Could you easily explain to your parents how to do some basic operations on an EVM chain? Would you expect them to understand how to bridge tokens? And honestly, bridging is not even close to the most complex thing we do in this space.
Just look at the steps and concepts someone needs to grasp just to get started:
- Installing wallet extensions or apps
- Dealing with seed phrases or private keys
(“Wait, if I lose this 12-word thing… I lose everything?”) - Understanding the difference between a wallet and an exchange account
(“Isn’t my Coinbase account my wallet?”) - Switching networks manually (Ethereum → Arbitrum → Polygon)
And that’s before we even talk about transactions themselves: native tokens, gas, gas fees, bridging, approve vs execute…
Then you have to explain tokens: stablecoins, wrapped tokens, and so on.
I won’t even get into staking, liquidity providing, lending, borrowing, impermanent loss… the list goes on.
So when you look at all of this, does it really make sense to talk about “mass adoption” right now? The reality is that we’re still building the foundations. There are way too many steps ahead of us before we can even start dreaming about true mass adoption. Our focus should be on making it easier first.
The good news is that I feel like we’re doing it right – one step at a time.
People usually start by learning about Bitcoin. Then they buy it on a CEX. Then they hold. Then they hear about other coins.
The most adventurous will learn a few of the concepts above, earn some money here and there, then lose some money on meme coins and rug pulls (or are you really going to say you never did?). Some will walk away calling the whole thing a scam – and that’s fine. It’s part of the process.
As developers, what we should focus on is making this easier. And honestly, for now, that means building and breaking things, thinking deeply about UX, and how people will actually interact with what we create.
There are people way smarter than me working on amazing abstractions to make this feel as simple as using a regular banking app. Our job is to take advantage of these technologies and always remember: no matter how long you’ve been in this space, it is still early.