Crypto Industry Shifts Focus From Building Infrastructure To User Adoption

Crypto firms have spent years building blockchain-based financial infrastructure and developing novel products. According to CoinDesk, the industry is now shifting its focus from creation to getting customers to use them and keep coming back.

Mainstream Integration and Adoption

As the sector aligns more closely with traditional finance, asset managers are tokenizing funds, exchanges are expanding into lending and payments, and blockchain networks are courting institutional clients. Ben Shen, Coinbase's head of financial services and loyalty products, stated that the industry was previously very technology-oriented with heavy jargon. As crypto overlaps with traditional financial services, customers simply want to grow, hold, send, spend, or borrow money, regardless of the underlying blockchain technology.

To drive adoption, Coinbase is focusing on creating what Shen calls "magic moments" where customers immediately see utility. The company approaches adoption as a cycle involving funding accounts, holding assets with rewards, and spending or trading. WisdomTree is similarly expanding distribution for its tokenized funds, including the WTGXX money market fund with about $1.2 billion in assets, according to Will Peck, WisdomTree's head of digital assets. WisdomTree recently announced a collaboration with MoonPay allowing eligible U.S. retail customers to access WTGXX using stablecoins.

Institutional Demands

Speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York, investor Kevin O'Leary noted that blockchain networks targeting institutional business must demonstrate actual deals and real adoption rather than mere testing. O'Leary emphasized that large enterprises want to see tangible utilization before deploying capital at scale.

Key facts

• WisdomTree's tokenized money market fund WTGXX holds about $1.2 billion in assets, according to Will Peck.
• WisdomTree partnered with MoonPay to allow eligible U.S. retail customers to access WTGXX using stablecoins.
• Coinbase views adoption as a three-part cycle involving funding, holding with rewards, and spending or trading.