Crypto Industry Pivots to Focus on User Engagement and Sustained Adoption

Crypto companies are shifting their focus from developing on-chain financial products to driving sustained user engagement as the industry seeks to align more closely with mainstream finance. Asset managers are launching tokenized funds, exchanges are expanding into lending and payments, and blockchain networks are targeting institutional clients. The key challenge now is demonstrating regular usage rather than just proving the technology works.

Coinbase, for example, is prioritizing the practical utility of crypto products for everyday financial needs. Ben Shen, the company’s head of financial services and loyalty products, emphasized that customers care more about growing, holding, sending, spending, or borrowing money than the underlying blockchain technology. Coinbase aims to create 'magic moments' that immediately showcase a product’s usefulness, fostering a cycle where users bring money onto the platform, keep it there, and find ways to spend or trade those assets.

Rewards and incentives can attract users initially, but the goal is to convert that engagement into long-term usage. Kevin O’Leary, chairman of O’Leary Ventures, highlighted that blockchain networks must demonstrate actual adoption by companies rather than just testing the technology. Institutional customers want to see real deals and sustained use, not just experiments.

WisdomTree, an asset manager overseeing about $150 billion, is expanding its tokenized funds through partnerships. For instance, a collaboration with MoonPay allows U.S. retail customers to access WTGXX, a tokenized money market fund with about $1.2 billion in assets, using stablecoins without separately onboarding with WisdomTree. Coinbase is also exploring distribution through third-party platforms, including AI tools, to enhance accessibility.