Thread by @FlywheelDeFi

Crypto has a branding problem.

It’s been 10 years since Bitcoin was launched… but still no cryptocurrencies have replaced traditional payment methods!

If crypto is the future… why is no one using it to pay for things?

A new paper by Luke Kowalski may give us some insight 👇

If you want to skip the summary and read the whole article check it out here.

Lackluster Adoption of Cryptocurrencies as a Consumer Payment Method in the United States—Hypothesis: Is This Independent Technology in Need of a Brand, and What Kind?

mdpi.com/1911-8074/16/1…

Bitcoin has been sold as a new payment technology better than existing payment solutions.

But no one actually uses Bitcoin for payments. Digital gold is stored, not spent.

Sure, some governments have made Bitcoin legal tender, but the uptake has been tepid at best.

We diehards of CT will always assume crypto is being adopted because it is apart of our daily lives.

Normies were burned badly in this bear market and think crypto needs “careful regulation” in the wake of the shitstorm @SBF_FTX caused.

Crypto’s “brand” is down BAD. Send help.

Kowalski explains that normies aren’t ready to switch to using crypto for payments.

Cash, credit cards, banks, and @CashApp are just too good, too easy to use.

The “switching costs” are too high.

Bitcoin is great if you want to send some sats to your friend protesting in Iran, but what about when your grandma wants to send you some birthday money.

“Dear grandson, are you down bad?” “Here’s a few dollars to buy more jpegs” XOXO

When was the last time you paid for something with crypto?

Lightning Network was sold as a solution, but even @jack @Square cant figure out how to make LN popular.

Credit cards are just too easy. HOWEVER, CC companies are highly extractive charging 1-5% on every transaction.

Kowalski writes that for every new technology, early adopters focus on “perceived value”

Normies in contrast rely on “brand satisfaction” and trust.

As there is no CEO of Bitcoin (Get bent @Dr_CSWright) faith has to be put in the tech.

Money is more than technology.

It has social, cultural, political dimensions that go beyond code.

Crypto in its current state is just not attractive to normies *yet* as a means of payment.

We can blame the Bitcoin Maxi’s for #HODL

Or @GaryGensler for the frequent SEC banhammer.

But these implied costs on top of crypto make it unattractive.

Hyperinflation and political uncertainty are the only real drivers of crypto adoption rn.

Cryptos brand is to have no brand.

Crypto is trustless, anonymous, independent money.

It's also zero consumer protections, rug pulls and wicked volatility.

Who does Grandma call when she can’t find her private keys?

Normies must trust a person or company, not code.

Kowalski writes that real adoption is going to come when crypto can evolve beyond a decentralized model.

Is that a hybrid model like @Square? @coinbase?

Maybe it's in the form of @fraxfinance (we’re biased ofc!) after it becomes the stablecoin of final settlement for the digital economy.

On chain decentralization with institutional backing…. This is the way.

A legally secure, socially accepted, brand.

Can #Frax become something that Grandma would use?

We at @flywheelpod think so… but there’s still a lot to build and develop.

What do you think? Which cryptos have a chance to become money?

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flywheeloutput.com/p/crypto-has-a…