We are currently in the midst of a crypto revolution. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have exploded in popularity and adoption over the last decade. However, mainstream adoption is still limited. Crypto is still seen by many as complicated, risky, and lacking real utility in people’s everyday lives.
For crypto to reach its full potential, the next age needs to be the age of utility. There needs to be a shift towards real use cases that provide tangible value to average people in their day-to-day lives. When crypto becomes woven into the fabric of normal financial transactions and activities, that is when we will see it become a mainstream staple.
So what are some of the key real-world use cases that can drive mainstream adoption? Here are some of the most promising areas:
International Remittances
Sending money across borders via traditional wire transfers is slow, expensive, and inconvenient. Crypto has the ability to significantly improve this process. Through cryptos like XRP, international remittances can be done instantly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost.
As more remittance companies adopt crypto protocols, average consumers in developing countries can benefit greatly from faster access to essential money sent from family abroad. Reducing friction here is key to making crypto relevant in people’s daily lives.
Mainstream Commerce
For daily transactions like buying groceries, paying bills, or going out to eat, crypto needs to become a payment option on par with cards. Widespread adoption among merchants is critical for consumers to be able to spend crypto seamlessly.
Progress is being made with integrations like PayPal allowing users to check out with crypto. Similarly, Visa and Mastercard are embracing crypto-linked cards. As spending Bitcoin at major retailers becomes as easy as swiping a credit card, average consumers will embrace it for its speed and convenience.
Loyalty and Rewards
Loyalty programs can also be taken to the next level with crypto. Imagine earning Bitcoin or tokens back on everyday purchases rather than just airline miles. Blockchain allows loyalty points to become universal, transferable, and exchangeable.
Consumers can already earn Bitcoin rewards using Lolli or Fold cards. Mainstream programs like Starbucks Rewards venturing into crypto loyalty would demonstrate real-world utility for regular consumers.
Micropayments
Cryptocurrency provides an efficient way to handle micro-transactions that are typically not feasible with traditional payment tools due to fees. Use cases like paying tiny amounts for streaming media or article access are where crypto micropayments make sense for consumers.
Projects like SatoshiPay are bringing crypto micropayments to digital publishers. Micropayments can dramatically expand access to content by removing upfront paywalls. Implementation by major online media companies would showcase meaningful utility of crypto for content consumption.
Decentralized Finance
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is one of the most game-changing use cases of crypto. It re-imagines financial services without centralized intermediaries. Through smart contracts, activities like borrowing, lending, earning interest, and trading can be done peer-to-peer.
By providing open access and transparency, DeFi allows average users to tap into powerful crypto-native financial services. As UX and risks are improved, DeFi apps can become onramps for mainstream adoption. Platforms like Aave and Uniswap show the disruptive potential.
Supply Chain Tracking
Blockchain enables greater transparency and traceability in supply chains. This gives consumers confidence about where products are sourced and how they are produced. Crypto tracking also helps prevent counterfeiting which is beneficial for brand loyalty.
Use cases are already emerging with blockchain helping trace food from farm to fork. Luxury brand LVMH has used blockchain to verify authenticity of high-priced goods. As crypto proves its utility in supply chain tracking, everyday consumers reap the benefits.
Identity Protection
Digital identity is another area where crypto is promising. Blockchain systems can store identity information securely while still allowing selective access. Self-sovereign identity restores control to users over their personal data.
Startups like Civic and Bloom allow consumers to control identity details and limit exposure of sensitive credentials. By safeguarding identity data, crypto can relieve security fears that prevent mainstream adoption.
Automatic Smart Contracts
Smart contracts are a cornerstone of many crypto use cases. These self-executing contracts have great potential to remove administrative friction in many areas. With crypto, processes can function seamlessly end-to-end without manual intervention.
For example, smart contracts could enable event tickets to automatically deliver proceeds to organizers after transferring tickets to buyers. Or insurance claims could instantly pay out based on predetermined conditions. Integrating this automation into daily activities unlocks major utility benefits.
Censorship Resistance
A hugely valuable application of crypto is empowering free speech and resisting censorship. In restrictive regimes, crypto provides a way to bypass controls on access to information. Dissidents can use crypto to securely spread messages and organize.
Use of Bitcoin helps citizens under authoritarian governments bypass surveillance, capital controls, and seizure of assets.
Services like Tor and VPNs have partnered with crypto projects to further enhance privacy and freedom. Mainstream use of crypto as a censorship circumvention tool will showcase the everyday utility it brings to people lacking basic rights.
As these examples demonstrate, the next era of crypto needs to focus intensely on meaningful real-world utility that improves people’s daily lives. There is enormous untapped potential across these use cases. But realizing it requires pushing crypto out of the speculative fringe and into core products and services that average consumers rely on.
The onus is on both the crypto industry as well as mainstream companies to make this happen symbiotically. Crypto startups need to continue developing commercially viable platforms and technologies that are 10x better than status quo systems. They need to eliminate complexity and enhance UX such that their innovations are effortless for consumers to use.
At the same time, established mainstream firms must overcome inertia and start actively integrating with crypto utilities. Traditional companies like banks, merchants, social networks, and content providers need to enable crypto options for account holders and customers. This can start small with adding crypto integrations into existing products rather than launching entirely new crypto-native services.
As consumers start encountering crypto in their routine activities, the fog around it starts to lift. People begin to appreciate the advantages it offers in payments, transactions, earnings, and financial services. Crypto becomes less esoteric and more tangible. When the utility becomes apparent in regular everyday usage, widespread adoption follows.
There are certainly challenges to overcome like regulations, scaling, volatility, and user education. However, a laser focus on utility is what will drive crypto firmly into the mainstream. If decentralized blockchain technologies keep improving daily life across communications, business, finance, entertainment, retail, and culture, consumers will embrace them. They won’t care about the ideological battles and tribalism of crypto insiders. The technologies will sell themselves if people find them genuinely useful in their lives.
The crypto industry needs to take a user-first approach as opposed to a technology-first approach. Make crypto indispensable to people and businesses first rather than trying to get them to care about the underlying technology for its own sake. Don’t be dogmatic about particular cryptos or protocols. Solve real problems for real people and the mainstream will follow.
Utility is crypto’s path to mainstream adoption. The next era of crypto needs to make blockchain disappear into the background and foreground the benefits in people’s everyday lives. If the industry focuses on this, crypto can transition from speculation to become as ubiquitious and essential as the internet itself. The age of utility will be the age where crypto hits the big time.