Crypto Firms Shift Focus from Technical Achievements to User Adoption

Crypto companies are shifting their focus from building new blockchain products to driving user adoption and making tokenized funds, payments, and lending tools more accessible and relevant to everyday financial activity.

According to Coinbase's head of financial services and loyalty products, Ben Shen, adoption depends on creating 'magic moments' when users quickly understand why a product is useful. He emphasizes that the company views adoption as a cycle where money comes onto the platform, customers find reasons to keep it there, and then use it across other services.

Other industry participants, such as O'Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O'Leary, also stress the importance of real-world usage and commercial deals. He notes that blockchain networks competing for institutional business need to prove real-world usage and commercial deals, not just technical tests.

Coinbase is pursuing a multi-channel approach, seeking outside distribution through platforms supporting stablecoins, such as MoonPay's platform, which allows eligible U.S. retail customers to access WisdomTree's tokenized fund lineup, including the tokenized money market fund WTGXX.