Why Crypto Prices Still Struggling: The Adoption Paradox

6 min readNov 4, 2024

TL;DR

Blockchain’s 2024 mainstream adoption faces UX challenges, technical barriers, and interoperability issues.
Complex multi-chain wallets and cryptographic keys make blockchain UX difficult for general users.
A 2022 Pew survey found that 63% of Americans find crypto confusing due to wallet and critical management issues.
Static, user-initiated transactions limit DeFi’s potential for automation and real-time applications.
Numa Network drives adoption by simplifying wallets, managing gas fees, enabling dynamic transactions, and enhancing cross-chain interoperability for more comprehensive Web3 access.

Blockchain technology promises to revolutionise industries from finance to supply chain, creating a decentralised world where intermediaries are no longer needed, and individuals gain complete control over their assets. However, despite the enthusiasm and rapid technological advancements, the mainstream adoption of blockchain still faces significant hurdles. In 2024, as interest grows and groundbreaking projects emerge, it’s clear that specific structural issues remain, hindering blockchain’s journey to mainstream adoption.

Here, we explore some of the most pressing roadblocks and why they matter, focusing on issues related to user experience, technical complexities, and interoperability across multiple blockchain networks.

Complexities Around Gas Fees and Financial Entry Barriers

Gas fees — the cost of executing transactions on a blockchain — are a persistent hurdle. For users new to blockchain, managing gas fees can be confusing and intimidating. These fees fluctuate based on network congestion and can be unexpectedly high during peak periods.

Ethereum gas fees (in $)

In the Ethereum network, for example, average gas fees spiked up to $196 per transaction during peak periods in 2022 (according to Coinmetrics). However, these numbers have come down as scaling solutions develop. However, even as average transaction fees fluctuate between $2 and $20 on ethereum, the burden of acquiring native tokens to make transactions remains a consistent barrier. To interact with the blockchain, new users must acquire these tokens in a process that may be unfamiliar and inconvenient.

High or unpredictable fees pose a financial and psychological barrier for new users and casual adopters. This results in a system where only those already embedded in the crypto ecosystem or with specialised knowledge can navigate easily, limiting broader appeal and adoption.

Poor User Experience and Technical Barriers

User experience (UX) has become a significant challenge for blockchain adoption. For most users accustomed to the simple interfaces of mainstream apps, blockchain can feel daunting, often requiring specialised wallets, complex recovery mechanisms, and knowledge of cryptographic keys and token types.

Complicated Wallet Management: Setting up a wallet, storing a private key, and keeping track of seed phrases add layers of complexity unfamiliar to the average user. Wallets are essential in blockchain for holding assets and initiating transactions, yet their interfaces and technical requirements can be too challenging for a general audience.
Lack of Chain Abstraction: Currently, each blockchain has its gas fees, token standards, and transaction requirements, which require users to manage multiple chains and wallet addresses actively. Chain abstraction could streamline these processes by automatically handling the different technical requirements across chains, but implementing this widely is challenging and would require comprehensive protocol support and development. Without this abstraction, users are forced to learn the intricacies of each chain they wish to interact with, creating unnecessary friction.

A 2022 survey from Pew Research showed that 63% of Americans find the cryptocurrency landscape confusing, citing a lack of usability and concerns about secure asset management. Until blockchain can simplify UX and account management, it’s likely to remain niche and inaccessible for many.

Limitations of Static Transaction Systems

In traditional systems, transactions are often conditional, event-driven, or automated based on specific circumstances. However, most blockchain transactions are static and user-initiated, limiting their application to more dynamic, conditional workflows.

Without dynamic transaction capabilities, developers struggle to implement complex systems that could automate specific actions based on market events, time-sensitive conditions, or cross-chain activity. For example, a decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol that automatically reallocates assets based on real-time market conditions is hard to achieve on a static, single-chain setup.

The lack of intent-driven transactions that can be scheduled, automated, or triggered based on real-world events significantly limits blockchain technology’s flexibility and potential applications. This is a significant constraint for developers seeking to build more functional applications.

Interoperability and Cross-Chain Integration Challenges

Blockchain adoption suffers from fragmentation due to the vast array of chains, each with its unique protocol and token standard. While decentralized applications (dApps) can be deployed across chains, facilitating smooth and secure cross-chain transactions is still a significant challenge.

For instance, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Solana, and others operate on different frameworks, making cross-chain functionality inherently complex. Solutions like bridges exist but are often vulnerable to hacks and require users to manage assets across various networks manually. According to DefiLlama, cross-chain bridges have been hacked for over $2.8 billion, representing almost 40% of the entire value hacked in Web3. This underscores the security risks associated with these solutions.

This limitation hinders the growth of applications that require multi-chain interoperability. It also raises the technical complexity for developers, who must ensure their applications can communicate across blockchains. Without seamless interoperability, blockchain technology falls short of its decentralized promise, forcing users and developers to navigate an overly fragmented ecosystem.

Numa Network: Building Solutions for Adoption

The missing pieces of the blockchain puzzle are increasingly apparent, and the industry is aware of what’s needed to address these issues:

Enhanced User Experience: Simplifying wallet setup and abstracting away complex gas fee management will reduce onboarding friction, making blockchain technology more accessible for newcomers.
Dynamic, Intent-Driven Transactions: Allowing transactions to execute based on specific conditions or triggers will enable a broader set of applications, from automated DeFi protocols to cross-chain financial derivatives.
Interoperable Multi-Chain Ecosystems: Improving cross-chain infrastructure will foster a seamless experience where assets can move between chains securely and fluidly, eliminating users needing to manage multi-chain balances or learn about the underlying protocol manually.

The potential for blockchain in 2024 is greater than ever, but these structural issues must be addressed for the industry to reach mainstream adoption. A platform that tackles these pain points and offers an experience where developers and users can access blockchain easily, flexibly, and securely will pave the way for broader acceptance and innovation.

Addressing these pressing challenges, Numa Network is entering the blockchain landscape as a transformative force designed to overcome the critical roadblocks holding back web3 adoption. Numa Network brings a comprehensive, user-friendly approach tailored to the needs of both new and experienced users. With its intent-based transactions, advanced programmable mempools, and gasless options, Numa Network is set to redefine blockchain engagement, making it accessible, intuitive, and powerful.

As blockchain continues to evolve, Numa Network stands ready to unlock Web3’s true potential for a broader audience.