Blockchain Industry Rethinks Usability for Mainstream Adoption

For over a decade, the crypto industry has emphasized decentralization, transparency, and self-sovereignty. These principles are essential but have not yet led to widespread adoption. The vision of billions of people using blockchain daily remains a dream. To achieve this reality, the industry needs to rethink how blockchain-powered experiences are built and delivered.

One significant barrier is usability. Non-custodial wallets, the current dominant interface to blockchain, are too complex for the average person. Managing private keys, writing down seed phrases, buying native tokens for transactions, navigating multiple chains, bridging assets, and converting crypto to fiat are not user-friendly experiences. This complexity is not conducive to mainstream adoption.

Most people do not want to know they are using a blockchain, and they shouldn't have to. This is where "gated communities" come in. These are platforms that abstract away blockchain complexity while retaining its benefits. They offer seamless, Web2-style interfaces while the blockchain operates in the background. Custodial wallets, centralized interfaces, and trusted intermediaries act as gatekeepers, reducing friction for all users.

Critics argue that this approach betrays the ethos of decentralization. However, the broader opportunity is to onboard millions or even billions of users through intuitive experiences that build real value and solve real problems. Not everyone will start their crypto journey managing a cold wallet. Many will begin inside a safe, guided, user-friendly "gated" experience, and that is acceptable.

Examples of successful dApps that serve non-crypto natives include Lofty.ai in the U.S., which transforms real estate investing by using blockchain behind the scenes. Users can buy fractional ownership in income-generating properties for as little as $50, receive rental income automatically, and resell their shares at any time. The user experience is pure Web2 simplicity, appealing to mainstream real estate investors.

In Kabul, HesabPay enables women to buy food and supplies at local shops using simple plastic cards and SMS confirmations. These transactions settle instantly on-chain, providing transparency and traceability to NGOs and donors. For the women using them, it’s just a card—not a crypto wallet. They never had a bank account and probably will never need one. This demonstrates real-world utility without a steep learning curve.

In Italy, home renters can buy "tokenized" solar panels through Enel’s blockchain-enabled app. The app tracks the energy generated by those panels elsewhere and deducts it from the user's electricity bill. The blockchain ensures automatic accounting and real-time settlement, while the user experience is intuitive and app-based.

In online chess, players can now earn rewards for participating in games, tournaments, or contributing to the community without knowing that the loyalty points they’re collecting are blockchain tokens. Worldchess, the official organizer of the FIDE Grand Prix, has launched a blockchain-based rewards program that allows players to accumulate and redeem points simply by playing and engaging. The technology is invisible—the experience is seamless.

These examples show that blockchain is not a product but an infrastructure layer. Its job is to disappear over time. Gated communities will serve as ramps, onboarding users gradually into more decentralized, self-sovereign experiences. To achieve this, a new generation of tools is needed that marry user control with ease of use.

Self-custody will evolve with social recovery mechanisms, verifiable credentials, and complete fee abstraction. Users will sign in and approve transactions with their fingerprint, accessing any app without realizing they are interacting with a blockchain. This is the path forward: a world where the blockchain fades into the background, and delightful, safe, user-centric experiences come to the fore.

If the industry is serious about mainstream adoption, it must stop building for crypto-native users alone. The future belongs to builders who can merge the best of Web2 design with the power of Web3 infrastructure without making users choose between them. Gated communities are not the end-goal but the best way to get millions of people in the door. Once they are in, they can explore everything else that the open world of blockchain has to offer.