I was chatting recently with a friend and former colleague, who is a very experienced client success professional. After his most recent startup experienced ended (as many do, with running out of money and winding things down), he has been in the market for a new opportunity. He and I worked together in a crypto context, and I recommended a few roles I had seen that looked like a great fit. After interviewing with two different crypto companies, he was told the firms wanted a “customer service” person, not a “customer success” person. When debriefing from the experience, he quipped, “Hey, dummies. You’re talking about two sides of the same coin!” It struck me that this exchange is more than semantic confusion – it highlights the fact that many crypto companies seem unaware of or dismissive toward established or traditional best practices in customer experience, which may be highlighting that, during the quest to build new solutions, casual end users can often be lost in the shuffle. So, this is a bit of a departure from our usual content (this is now an update about something happening with an enforcement action or about rules or regs or anything like that), but the law does not exist in isolation, and it behooves us (I think) to stop and think about the business of crypto from time to time. Feel free to send me a message to tell me that this is a terrible idea and I should never post anything like this ever again – I will probably ignore you, but you should still feel free 🙂 .
The distinction between customer service and customer success is well-known in traditional tech firms: customer service is typically reactive support for issues, whereas customer success is a proactive function ensuring clients achieve value and satisfaction. By waving off this nuance, a failure to embrace customer-centric approaches is revealed, which may be holding back mainstream adoption (which is bad for everyone).
An Insular Industry Overlooking the Client Experience
This insularity – a tendency for crypto projects to remain in a bubble – has been noted by many observers. Crypto startups often emphasize cutting-edge technology and ideology at the expense of user experience and basic business practices. As one analysis put it, many projects still focus on “building cool tech without ever thinking if it’s solving a real problem”. Marketing efforts can be naïve, sometimes limited to flashy logos and influencer hype instead of concrete customer education or support. It’s not unusual to find crypto teams composed entirely of first-timers who “have never worked in other industries”, meaning they haven’t had fundamental business values – like revenue models, customer relationships, or service etiquette – drilled into them. Fraser Edwards, a crypto CEO, observes that lack of experienced business talent is a major challenge for the industry, and many projects still “ignore business values and etiquette such as having a mission and vision, planning long-term… [and] setting commercial objectives.” In short, some crypto ventures operate as if the “old rules” don’t apply, shunning roles and processes (like dedicated client success teams or robust user support) that traditional companies rely on to keep customers happy.
This insular mindset also manifests in communication. Industry veterans note that crypto firms often bombard outsiders with jargon and details that are “hard to understand or usually unhelpful,” instead of focusing on fundamentals that broader audiences care about. The result is an echo chamber: crypto companies talking to themselves rather than to everyday consumers. Martyna Borys of Edelman pointed out that crypto companies must “come out of their own bubble” and become educators and communicators that normal people can relate to. Unfortunately, that’s not always happening – and the customer experience suffers for it.
Why Neglecting Customer Experience Hurts Adoption
Crypto having a poor customer experience problem is by no means breaking news. I would argue that, perhaps even more than poor policy and a historically uncertain regulatory environment, in this the year of our Lord 2025, the biggest barrier to crypto adoption is experience. Crypto’s tools and interfaces are still too complex for everyday users. Managing a secret seed phrase, deciphering long wallet addresses, or navigating a DeFi app can feel like navigating a maze to newcomers. As Robinhood’s Crypto CISO Katelyn Perna notes, crypto has historically been a space designed only for the technically proficient. I would go a step further and say that it is a space that has reveled in being exclusive, at the expense of long term upside through mass adoption. Not everyone is going to be a degen, and nor should they need to be to feel welcome and empowered to own their digital existence on rails outside of the TradTech megacorps.
Embracing Customer-Centric Practices: The Way Forward
The good news is that some crypto companies are starting to realize the importance of customer-centric practices. A new generation of ventures is actively shifting focus toward user experience, customer support, and real-world utility – borrowing a page from the traditional corporate playbook. For example, the finance startup EB1 explicitly prioritizes “delivering intuitive, credible experiences that fit naturally into users’ financial lives” rather than just technical innovations or crypto ideology. EB1’s approach – integrating crypto spending with familiar Visa cards, lifestyle perks, and a polished app – reflects a broader realization: adoption will come by meeting users where they are, not by expecting users to adapt to crypto’s quirks. The next wave of successful crypto products will belong not to those with the most advanced blockchain protocols, but to those that deliver useful, credible, and profitable experiences to the broadest portion of the global populace.
Forward-thinking companies are also building out client success and support infrastructure in preparation for mainstream growth. QuickNode, a blockchain infrastructure provider, is one example. They recognize that “if crypto is to succeed on a larger scale, it needs a customer-facing infrastructure that’s accessible, scalable, and user-friendly.” QuickNode has been enhancing its customer success framework to ensure new users (including developers and businesses unfamiliar with crypto) have a smooth experience. Amy Hyatt, QuickNode’s Head of Customer Success, describes how their team uses data analysis and client segmentation to reduce churn and increase engagement – standard practices in SaaS, but still novel in some crypto circles. They even tailor support by industry vertical, ensuring success managers “speak the language” of their clients. This is the kind of proactive client relationship management that enterprise software companies have used for years to drive adoption. By investing in it, QuickNode is effectively saying: we can’t just build it and expect them to come, we need to guide them once they arrive.
Industry experts are urging more of these shifts. A TELUS Digital report emphasizes clear education and human support as keys to building trust in crypto. It warns that “industry jargon can sabotage the customer experience by overwhelming new users” and recommends creating jargon-free guides, knowledge bases, and 24/7 support channels. The report notes that “ultimately, people trust what they can understand”, so crypto firms must present their offerings in plain terms and make “empathetic, knowledgeable and human support” readily available. In the same vein, Vitalik Buterin and other developers are pushing for features like “smart accounts” and social recovery – technical solutions to make wallets more user-friendly and forgiving. The common theme is a “human-centered design” philosophy: reimagining crypto tools from the perspective of everyday people, not engineers. That means wallets with simpler backup options, apps that explain actions in plain language, and interfaces that protect users from common mistakes. It also means having real humans available when automated systems and FAQs aren’t enough. Crypto exchanges and platforms will likely need to budget for the kind of multilingual call centers and client success teams that banks or SaaS firms take for granted. These investments directly impact confidence and trust, which are prerequisites for adoption on a mass scale.
Conclusion: Adapt or Stagnate
Crypto’s path to mass adoption doesn’t just run through better regulations or more innovative code – it runs through the everyday customer experience. The dismissive attitude toward “customer success” in our opening story illustrates a larger cultural hurdle. For too long, many crypto projects assumed that superior technology or a revolutionary vision would be enough to win the world over. But history shows that even the most groundbreaking tech needs human-centric support to truly take off. The personal computer didn’t explode in popularity until GUIs made them usable; the internet needed web browsers and customer ISPs to hide the complexity; smartphones only took over once they became intuitive for non-tech users. Crypto is no different. As one commentator aptly asked, can crypto be both intuitive and secure, or will it remain a niche for the technically proficient? The answer to that question will determine whether cryptocurrencies and blockchain apps can ever empower the masses as promised, or whether they stay confined to a club of insiders.
The encouraging news is that adaptation is underway. The industry is maturing, bringing in more people from traditional sectors who understand the value of client focus. We’re seeing the first signs of a cultural shift: from “users should adjust to our tech” toward “we should adjust our tech to our users.” Companies that embrace this shift – by hiring customer success professionals, simplifying their products, providing real customer support, and actively educating the public – will have a competitive edge. They will not only gain users faster; they’ll also help shed crypto’s reputation for being arcane or unfriendly. On the other hand, projects that remain insular, stubbornly rejecting the playbooks that have improved customer experience in other industries, risk fading away as the market selects for usability and trust.
In the end, achieving truly broad adoption of crypto requires more than evangelism about decentralization or the next killer app. It requires meeting ordinary users on their terms – with products that are easy to use, support that is easy to find, and value that is easy to understand. The crypto revolution, if it’s to happen, must learn to speak the language of the customer. That means shedding the “crypto company” mentality and simply becoming a company that serves its customers, hopefully opening the door to millions of skeptics who walk through it as new users.
Written by David Lopez Kurtz