Chainfeeds Briefing:
That killer app is not social, not financial, and not a game, but invisible.
Article Source:
https://x.com/SuhailKakar/status/1948019003810849077
Article Author:
Suhail Kakar
Perspective:
Suhail Kakar: For years, crypto entrepreneurs have been eager to move something onto the chain - on-chain social, on-chain finance, on-chain gaming. They thought the future belonged to decentralized social networks, DeFi, or play-to-earn, but the results were often disappointing. On-chain social products were continuously launched, yet users were unwilling to rebuild their social graphs; DeFi promised to disrupt finance, but in reality, users were still stuck in complicated fiat on-and-off ramp processes; blockchain games initially generated high excitement but quickly lost users due to lack of fun. Meanwhile, a more promising crypto revolution is quietly happening - technology is becoming invisible. The truly valuable crypto applications are not those that tout decentralization slogans, but those that hide blockchain from users' view and focus solely on user experience. Just like the internet protocols we use daily (such as TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS) have never appeared in ordinary people's attention, the most successful crypto technology should also be imperceptible. It doesn't rely on showing off technical skills or require explanations, but quietly makes people's digital lives better. A representative example is Telegram, which is not an application waving the blockchain banner, but a mainstream chat tool with massive user numbers. By gradually integrating crypto features, it has exposed billions of users to blockchain technology without their awareness. Telegram wallets, payment bots, mini-apps, etc., encapsulate all complex on-chain operations in the background, where users only need to click to transfer or buy sticker packs. Over 200 million wallets have been created, and many users don't even know they're using a crypto wallet. Similarly, payment companies like Stripe and Circle are building infrastructure that allows merchants to receive cryptocurrencies without understanding blockchain. Merchants only care about whether the money arrives, while blockchain as an underlying tool remains completely invisible. These Stripe-like crypto payment experiences essentially remove blockchain from the product's main narrative, keeping only the efficiency and convenience it brings. This embedded crypto approach is quietly changing traditional finance, such as banks using stablecoins for settlement and remittance companies using blockchain for cross-border payments, where users enjoy faster speeds and lower fees without needing to know the word "blockchain". The future of the crypto industry doesn't belong to products that force users to understand wallets, seed phrases, gas fees, and cross-chain bridges, but to experiences that completely hide these complex processes. We can boldly predict: the first crypto application with a billion users will not mention "blockchain" or "crypto" in its marketing. Users won't care whether they're using blockchain, only whether the product is genuinely better than traditional solutions. For builders, this means a fundamental shift in mindset: stop trying to educate users into a crypto lifestyle, stop forcing them to learn terminology, memorize seed phrases, and manage wallets. Instead, identify problems in reality that can be optimized by blockchain, abstract away all on-chain complexity, and make the experience as smooth and familiar as traditional applications. The best crypto applications won't talk about crypto, but will say: global one-click transfers, 5% high-yield deposits, digital assets you truly own. They won't persuade through ideology but win through better user experience. When blockchain becomes an invisible, universal operating system, its success is precisely because it has disappeared. This revolution won't be tokenized or heavily advertised; it will proceed quietly but have far-reaching impact.
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