According to Johann Kerbrat, head of Crypto at Robinhood, Crypto, adoption of Crypto still faces major hurdles due to its technical complexity, but that could change soon.
Speaking to Scott Melker on TheStreet Crypto Roundtable, Kerbrat acknowledged that Crypto’s user experience (UX) remains a major obstacle to mainstream adoption.
“What I often say is that cryptography was created by engineers for engineers. I think we’re still at this stage,” admitted Carblatt. Platforms like Robinhood make Bitcoin buying easier, but the transition to Web3 wallets and decentralized finance (DEFI) remains complicated for most users.
Bringing cryptography to the Robinhood masses played a key role in lowering the barriers to retail investors’ entry, allowing cryptography to be bought and sold seamlessly. However, Kerbrat believes that deeper participation in Defi, such as lending, gaming and using social networks, requires a steep learning curve.
“I’m going to exchange assets that I think I’m getting there right now. Looking at my wallet, looking at some of my competitors is pretty easy,” he explained. “But when it’s supposed to get loans on-chain or join social networks and games, we’re still a little bit away.”
Kerbrat noted that UI and UX are important to drive mass adoption. He pointed to Robinhood’s success in traditional markets. There, intuitive designs were installed by millions of users.
“The lesson Robinhood has shown is that UI and UX are important,” he pointed out. “We also need to make sure our customers really understand what’s going on, and we need to make sure we help them at every stage.”
Mercer suggested that the industry needs to reach the point where Crypto’s complexity is completely abstracted, just like how it uses the iPhone without understanding the underlying technology.
“When you send a text, no one knows the protocol behind the text message,” Carblatt agreed. “So you need to make sure you reach that stage in the crypto world.”
Kerbrat believes that better UX and seamless integration will ultimately make Crypto as easy as using other financial products. Users don’t need to hear words like “Defi” or “Blockchain Bridge.”