For more than a decade, the cryptographic industry has defended decentralization, transparency and auto-subsuvil. These principles are noble – and in many ways, essential.
But, if we are honest, they have not yet resulted in large and general public adoption. The dream of billions of people using the blockchain every day is still largely that – a dream. To make it reality, we must rethink the way we build and offer experiences fueled by the blockchain.
One of the greatest obstacles is conviviality. The current dominant interface of the blockchain – non -guardian wallets – is too complex for the average person. Manage private keys, write 24 -words seed sentences, buy native tokens just to make transactions, navigate in several channels, fold the active ingredients, kyc’ing on several occasions for each application and find how to convert the crypto into a fiat and return. It is not a user experience designed for the dominant current.
We often wonder why web3 has not “crossed the abyss”. The answer can be simple: most people do not want know They use a blockchain. And frankly, they shouldn’t have to do it.
This is where “closed communities” come into play.
I use the term closed communities to mean, simply, “town planning”. A beautiful configuration easy to navigate, offers comfort, safety and organized experiences. And in the case of a neighborhood, yes, also behind any protective layer. In crypto, closed communities are platforms that abstract the complexity of blockchain while retaining its advantages.
These environments provide users with web-style seamless interfaces while the blockchain makes heavy lifting in the background. The portfolios kept, the centralized interfaces and the confidence intermediaries are the guards – not to restrict access to a few special, but to reduce friction for all.
Critics argue that this betrays the ethics of decentralization (“Not your keys, not your pieces”). But this neglects the broader opportunity: on board millions, even billions, users thanks to intuitive experiences that create real value and solve real problems for users. Not everyone will start their cryptocurrency to manage a cold wallet. Many will start inside a safe, guided and friendly “closed” experience – and it doesn’t matter.
We can see it with DAPPs that successfully serve non -crypto natives.
In the United States, Lofty.ai quietly transforms real estate investment by using blockchain behind the scenes while offering a simple and intuitive experience for traditional investors. Users can buy a fractional property in the income generating properties for as little as $ 50, automatically receive rental income and resell their shares at any time.
What is remarkable is that Lofty does not attract the typical crypto crowd – he calls on traditional real estate investors who wish passive income without legal documents, title transfers or tax ailments generally involved in the management of properties. Tenants can gradually invest in the property in which they live, reducing their monthly rent as their equity develops – becoming terrifying from full -fledged owners. Blockchain allows flexibility and confidence; But user experience is pure web2 simplicity.
On the other side of the world, in Kabul, Hesabpay allows women to buy food and supplies in local stores using simple plastic cards and SMS confirmations. These transactions are instantly adjusted into a chain, offering transparency and traceability to NGOs and donors. But for women who use them, it’s just a card – not a cryptographic portfolio. They have never had a bank account and will probably never need it. This is what success looks like: real utility without steep learning curve.
In Italy, house tenants can buy “tokenized” solar panels via the application compatible with Enel blockchain – even if they live in apartments or can do nothing physically on their roof. The application follows the energy generated by these panels elsewhere and deduces it from the user’s electricity bill. The blockchain provides automatic accounting and real -time regulations; The user experience is intuitive, based on applications and familiar.
In online failures, players can now win awards to participate in games, tournaments or contribute to the community – without knowing that the loyalty points they collect are blockchain tokens. Worldchess, the official organizer of the Grand Prix Fide, launched a blockchain -based award program that allows players to accumulate and exchange points simply by playing and engaging. The underlying infrastructure ensures transparency and portability, but for users, it looks like any other modern loyalty program. The technology is invisible – the experience is transparent.
These examples show that blockchain is not a product. It is an infrastructure layer.
And like all major infrastructure, his work iso disappear.
Over time, we believe that these closed communities will serve as ramps – on users gradually in more decentralized and self -televised experiments. But to get there, we need a new generation of tools that follow user control with ease of use.
The self-leather will evolve. Social recovery mechanisms (such as those developed by the DEREC Alliance) will make it possible to recover the wallets without remembering the seed sentences. The verifiable identification information will allow users to transport their identity safely between applications and services, allowing a single KYC that persists on platforms. And a complete abstraction of the costs will mean that users never need to touch native gas tokens unless they wish. You would connect and approve the transactions with your fingerprint, and access any application without even realizing that you interact with a blockchain.
This is the path to follow: a world where the blockchain fades in the background, and delicious, safe and centered users appear.
If we are serious about traditional adoption, we have to stop building for crypto-native users. The future belongs to manufacturers who can merge the best of web2 design with the power of the web infrastructure3, without what users choose between them. The closed communities are not the final scorer. But they are the best way to get millions of people in the door.
And once they have entered, we can invite them to explore everything that the open world of blockchain has to offer.