The crypto industry has invested years in developing blockchain-based financial products and infrastructure. The focus is now shifting to a more immediate challenge: getting consumers and institutions to actively use these products and return to them regularly.
As crypto moves closer to mainstream finance, the question has evolved beyond proving these products can be built. Asset managers have tokenized funds, exchanges are expanding into lending and payments, and blockchain networks are courting institutions. The challenge now is determining what will motivate both consumers and institutions to choose crypto-based financial services over existing alternatives.
Making Products Useful, Not Technical
Coinbase has begun reorienting its approach away from emphasizing the underlying technology. According to Ben Shen, Coinbase's head of financial services and loyalty products, customers care about fundamental financial needs: growing money, holding it, sending it, spending it, or borrowing against it. The blockchain infrastructure, while important, is not necessarily what drives user decisions.
Coinbase frames adoption as a three-part cycle: money enters the platform, customers have incentives to keep it there, and they discover ways to use it. Shen describes identifying "magic moments"—instances where customers immediately perceive a product's value. Rewards programs can help initiate this cycle by breaking inertia, though the goal is for users to discover additional uses for their assets beyond promotional incentives.
Blockchain Networks Need Real Adoption
Kevin O'Leary, investor and chairman of O'Leary Ventures, identified a similar challenge at the blockchain network level. Speaking at the Avalanche Summit, O'Leary stated that networks seeking institutional business must demonstrate actual usage rather than simply testing capabilities. He emphasized that companies need "deals" and genuine adoption, not just technical proofs of concept. He also noted that successful customer adoption can become a marketing tool, with one major customer making it easier to land additional ones.
Trust and Distribution Drive Consumer Adoption
Financial services rely heavily on trust. Shen noted that when people deposit money, including paychecks and savings, they rely on social proof—knowing that others have used a service successfully. This trust factor is particularly important in financial services.
Some companies are expanding product distribution to reach customers where they already are. WisdomTree, a $150 billion asset manager, has built tokenized funds including WTGXX, a tokenized money market fund with approximately $1.2 billion in assets. The company recently announced a collaboration with MoonPay allowing eligible U.S. retail customers to access WTGXX through MoonPay's platform without separate onboarding with WisdomTree.
Coinbase similarly is exploring how its products can reach customers beyond its own platform while maintaining its own apps and websites. Shen indicated that third-party distribution channels, including potential connections with AI tools, could complement rather than replace companies' first-party platforms.
