A CoinDesk opinion column argues that cryptocurrencies have failed to deliver practical utility after over a decade of promises. Author VerifiedX’s Pollak highlights poor user experiences, speculative focus, and technical barriers as key reasons for limited real-world use. Global ownership remains below 10%, with even less actual usage for payments.
In a column published on CoinDesk, VerifiedX’s Pollak questions whether the cryptocurrency industry has provided anything indispensable to everyday people, concluding that it has not. For more than a decade, crypto has promised permissionless, trustless, borderless money immune to traditional finance's failures. Yet, estimates of global ownership hover below 10%, and the share used for payments or other tangible purposes is likely smaller. Despite billions in venture funding, meme coins, and media attention, crypto stays a niche product for a tiny population fraction.
Pollak points to the daunting onchain experience on the largest smart-contract network, where users must manage private keys, navigate fragmented exchanges, handle multiple token standards, cross bridges, and face unpredictable fees. A high-speed blockchain, marketed for faster and cheaper transactions, suffered repeated outages, undermining its reliability for global commerce. Another project aimed to bridge crypto and banking, but retail adoption for spending remains nonexistent, with activity centered on speculation and insiders selling holdings.
The author notes a pattern of heavy trading volumes, often involving wash trading, that mask limited real usage. While self-custody and decentralization are celebrated, most users rely on centralized exchanges due to incomprehensible self-custodial wallets. These platforms add leverage and derivatives that amplify volatility, rehypothecating deposits and creating opaque structures reminiscent of traditional finance.
Everyday applications like paying rent in crypto are described as a fantasy, with small businesses avoiding volatile tokens and hesitant on stablecoins due to unpredictable fees and confusing interfaces. Pollak calls the user experience terrible, built by engineers for engineers, contrasting it with intuitive consumer finance apps. Offchain financialization, like perpetual futures exceeding spot volume, led to Bitcoin losing half its value in a leveraged liquidation cascade, detached from fundamental utility.
To advance, Pollak urges simplifying experiences, prioritizing utility over speculation, ensuring transparent supply, predictable costs, and human-centered design. Speculation built awareness but cannot ensure permanence; true progress requires seamless integration into daily life.