Member-only story
The Coinbase decade: the product ecosystem that will define the 2020s
It’s 2022. Have you created a crypto wallet? Have you bought and set up an ENS? Have you joined a DAO? Have you staked crypto, bought crypto, or used an NFT marketplace? You may have successfully tried one or more of those — or know someone who has. These are a few of the many Web3 use cases we have seen so far. Despite the rising popularity of these applications, there’s a sentiment that the user experience of products in Crypto and Web3 is poor — but improving. As with any emerging technology, there are opportunities for growth.
Widespread adoption is still the largest challenge for Web3. Onboarding new users can be difficult. Explaining these concepts for the first time can potentially be challenging too. The UX challenges aren’t talked about enough. More recently, Design and UX are moving to the forefront of Web3 conversations. It is not a criticism of Web3 — this is where the opportunity exists. The opportunity is there in all of Web3: the access layer, the use case layer, infrastructure, protocol layer, and more.
Designing for Web3 and building secure infrastructure will be the most important discussions to have moving forward. There will be many players that innovate in these respects. Designers and those who are knowledgeable about UX are crucial players in influencing the success and adoption of crypto. Coinbase is impressive in this aspect —given their operating structure, they are poised to address this effectively as well as many other challenges in Web3. They may have the greatest impact out of many product teams over this decade. This is important for all Web3 and Crypto companies, operators, and investors. Let’s dive in.
A Great Decade of Opportunity for Product Operators
The 2020s will be the greatest opportunity for operators with a bent towards user experience — product managers, designers, engineers, and more will revolutionize Web3 to solve the challenges that many people see today. It needs to be easy. It needs to be secure. It needs to be accessible.
