The next article is an op-ed by Debra Nita, Affiliate Director, Head of Progress
The subsequent crypto breakthrough gained’t come from a whitepaper or guarantees to “revolutionize finance.” It should emerge from one thing less complicated, 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 spanking new killer apps to emerge.
Regardless of being seen as frivolous, memecoins are a main instance of a killer crypto app, and so they reveal a blueprint ignored by “critical” crypto initiatives. This was evident in lately standard tokens like $TRUMP and $MELANIA. A survey discovered that 14% of People – one in seven – invested in $TRUMP. This isn’t simply hypothesis – it’s mass onboarding.
The killer use instances that drive retail adoption aren’t about fixing probably the most complicated issues. As a substitute, they faucet into common human feelings and habits. These needs to be guiding rules for initiatives that goal to grow to be the following killer crypto app.
Neglect Utility, Suppose Social Phenomenon
The most well-liked crypto use instances all the time transcended their technical origins to grow to be cultural phenomena. Bitcoin began as a peer-to-peer digital money system however later grew within the public’s creativeness as a logo of economic sovereignty and rebel in opposition to conventional programs.
The $TRUMP and $MELANIA crypto tokens present how Donald and Melania Trump grow to be 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 belongings. These tokens primarily 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 trade has promising killer apps on its horizon. The TON and Telegram combo present indicators of promise attributable to their social relatability. Leveraging their mobile-first, social ecosystem to remodel mini-apps (significantly 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) affords 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 grow to be crypto’s subsequent killer use case.
Likewise, founders constructing retail apps ought to ask themselves “Can what we’re constructing provoke a big group of customers to rally behind it?” and “What about our undertaking might make it a family identify, and excite each consumer to share it with their pals?”
So Straightforward Grandma Would Perceive
A killer use case is intuitive and straightforward to make use of. Shopping for $TRUMP doesn’t require understanding good 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.
Through the 2024 U.S. presidential race, Polymarket – a prediction market the place individuals guess on real-world occasions, like guessing who will win an election – exploded in recognition. Almost 1 million new customers might simply be a part of because the steps to take part have been easy – obtain the app, join with Google, deposit USDC via an alternate, and guess on a query (e.g., “Will Candidate X win?”).
This simplicity displays a rising pattern in crypto: beginning with the end-user expertise relatively than letting infrastructure dictate the expertise.
We’re seeing this shift towards simplicity via initiatives like Base and Hyperliquid. Messari’s Annual Crypto Theses 2025 report confirmed that Base (constructed by Coinbase) simplified shifting funds from exchanges to blockchains with one-click performance, onboarding thousands and thousands. Equally, Hyperliquid’s perpetual decentralized alternate (DEX) noticed large traction by simulating the buying and selling expertise of main centralized exchanges (CEX) like Binance – user-friendly and cost-efficient whereas making certain asset possession.
Whereas CEXes have been an important onboarding automobile within the final bull run as a result of ease of changing fiat into crypto, DEXes might see an explosion in recognition this cycle. With seamless on-ramping enhancing in 2025, decentralization via onchain buying and selling might grow to be much more mainstream attributable to its rising 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 alternate grows with every new adopter.
The memecoin sector’s explosive development from $20 billion to $120 billion in 2024 validates this thesis. As extra customers be a part of ($TRUMP had 11 billion at its highest, turning into the 14th-largest by market capitalization throughout the crypto sector), the community turns into extra worthwhile, attracting extra members – creating a robust suggestions loop of development and cultural relevance.
Wanting forward, stablecoins are altering the funds trade by providing cheaper, sooner, and extra accessible options to conventional centralized fee programs. In 2024 alone, over 28.5 million customers accomplished 600 million stablecoin transactions, exhibiting their world adoption.
A key driver of this adoption may very well be US curiosity in sustaining Greenback dominance via USD-denominated stablecoins. A current 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 may very well be the following killer crypto app attributable to their community efforts. The extra they’re used for funds, the extra they are going to be used. Stablecoins might grow to be the first selection for the digital Greenback, reworking 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, initiatives ought to give attention to 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 initiatives that succeed on this bull run would be the ones that perceive and implement this blueprint.
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