The next article is an op-ed by Debra Nita, Affiliate Director, Head of Development
The following crypto breakthrough received’t come from a whitepaper or guarantees to “revolutionize finance.” It’ll emerge from one thing easier, extra human. Like NFTs, gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi) took off in retail recognition in 2021-22, the present bull market is ready for brand new killer apps to emerge.
Regardless of being seen as frivolous, memecoins are a chief instance of a killer crypto app, and so they reveal a blueprint ignored by “critical” crypto initiatives. This was evident in lately in style tokens like $TRUMP and $MELANIA. A survey discovered that 14% of Individuals – one in seven – invested in $TRUMP. This isn’t simply hypothesis – it’s mass onboarding.
The killer use circumstances that drive retail adoption aren’t about fixing essentially the most complicated issues. As a substitute, they faucet into common human feelings and habits. These needs to be guiding rules for tasks that goal to turn into the subsequent killer crypto app.
Neglect Utility, Assume Social Phenomenon
The preferred crypto use circumstances all the time transcended their technical origins to turn into cultural phenomena. Bitcoin began as a peer-to-peer digital money system however later grew within the public’s creativeness as an emblem of monetary sovereignty and riot in opposition to conventional methods.
The $TRUMP and $MELANIA crypto tokens present how Donald and Melania Trump turn into cultural icons past politics. Chainalysis revealed that fifty% of $TRUMP and/ or $MELANIA token holders had by no means purchased a Solana altcoin earlier than, and 83% of customers held lower than $1,000 in Solana property. These tokens basically attracted a big group of retail customers into the world of crypto for the primary time, on the again of Trump and Melania’s recognition.
The business has promising killer apps on its horizon. The TON and Telegram combo present indicators of promise because of their social relatability. Leveraging their mobile-first, social ecosystem to remodel mini-apps (notably GameFi ones), they’ve garnered some success in mixing Web2 usability with Web3 utility. Whereas the present TON gaming apps could also be critiqued for simplicity, Telegram’s distribution (950M+ customers) presents a viral launchpad if builders prioritize emotional engagement alongside token rewards.
If TON and Telegram can faucet into the emotional structure that makes gold-standard video games like Grand Theft Auto a social phenomenon, they might simply turn into crypto’s subsequent killer use case.
Likewise, founders constructing retail apps ought to ask themselves “Can what we’re constructing impress a big group of customers to rally behind it?” and “What about our mission might make it a family identify, and excite each consumer to share it with their pals?”
So Simple Grandma Would Perceive
A killer use case is intuitive and straightforward to make use of. Shopping for $TRUMP doesn’t require understanding sensible contracts, liquidity swimming pools, or consensus mechanisms. It’s so simple as downloading a pockets, swapping some SOL, and becoming a member of within the enjoyable. This low barrier to entry is essential for retail adoption.
Throughout the 2024 U.S. presidential race, Polymarket – a prediction market the place folks wager on real-world occasions, like guessing who will win an election – exploded in recognition. Almost 1 million new customers might simply be part of because the steps to take part had been simple – obtain the app, join with Google, deposit USDC by an change, and wager on a query (e.g., “Will Candidate X win?”).
This simplicity displays a rising pattern in crypto: beginning with the end-user expertise fairly than letting infrastructure dictate the expertise.
We’re seeing this shift towards simplicity by tasks like Base and Hyperliquid. Messari’s Annual Crypto Theses 2025 report confirmed that Base (constructed by Coinbase) simplified transferring funds from exchanges to blockchains with one-click performance, onboarding thousands and thousands. Equally, Hyperliquid’s perpetual decentralized change (DEX) noticed huge traction by simulating the buying and selling expertise of main centralized exchanges (CEX) like Binance – user-friendly and cost-efficient whereas guaranteeing asset possession.
Whereas CEXes had been a vital onboarding automobile within the final bull run because of the ease of changing fiat into crypto, DEXes might see an explosion in recognition this cycle. With seamless on-ramping enhancing in 2025, decentralization by onchain buying and selling might turn into much more mainstream because of its growing ease of use.
The Greater, the Higher
Community results drive exponential worth in platforms the place utility will increase with every new participant. Bitcoin’s power as a retailer of worth and medium of change grows with every new adopter.
The memecoin sector’s explosive progress from $20 billion to $120 billion in 2024 validates this thesis. As extra customers be part of ($TRUMP had 11 billion at its highest, turning into the 14th-largest by market capitalization inside the crypto sector), the community turns into extra beneficial, attracting extra members – creating a robust suggestions loop of progress and cultural relevance.
Wanting forward, stablecoins are altering the funds business by providing cheaper, quicker, and extra accessible options to conventional centralized cost methods. In 2024 alone, over 28.5 million customers accomplished 600 million stablecoin transactions, displaying their world adoption.
A key driver of this adoption might be US curiosity in sustaining Greenback dominance by USD-denominated stablecoins. A latest govt order by the Trump administration prohibits the event of a central financial institution digital foreign money (CBDC) within the U.S., positioning Greenback-backed stablecoins as the first digital illustration of the U.S. greenback.
Stablecoins might be the subsequent killer crypto app because of their community efforts. The extra they’re used for funds, the extra they are going to be used. Stablecoins might turn into the first selection for the digital Greenback, remodeling the monetary panorama whereas anchoring US financial affect.
The Blueprint for Retail Adoption
Challenges stay together with regulatory uncertainty and lack of implementation of insurance policies, technological complexities in scaling, and an present hole within the social legitimacy of crypto.
Regardless of these challenges, tasks ought to deal with the human component – designing experiences that make customers really feel like part of a cultural phenomenon, have simplicity at their core, and emphasize the creation of community results. Retail tasks that succeed on this bull run would be the ones that perceive and implement this blueprint.
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