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Cryptocurrencies have long been touted as a technology of inclusion, promising permissionless financing, open access, and global connectivity. However, the industry’s approach to cross-chain activity has inadvertently created a system that rewards complexity over inclusivity, leaving many users behind. In this article, we’ll explore the unintended consequences of cross-chain development and propose a solution that prioritizes user experience and accessibility.
Introduction to Cross-Chain Complexity
The concept of cross-chain infrastructure was designed to facilitate the free movement of assets, liquidity, and applications between fragmented networks. In theory, this should have made crypto more usable and accessible to a broader audience. However, in practice, cross-chain has become a system that disproportionately benefits highly skilled users, while leaving others struggling to navigate its complexities.
The Problem with Cross-Chain
The current state of cross-chain is characterized by a labyrinthine landscape of bridges, messaging protocols, wrapped assets, liquidity routers, and aggregators. While this may seem like a testament to the industry’s ingenuity, it has created a barrier to entry for many users. The average user is not equipped to handle the cognitive load, technical risk, and operational friction associated with cross-chain transactions. As a result, the system has become a gatekeeper, filtering out those who are not skilled or experienced enough to participate.
Complexity as a Barrier to Entry
In traditional finance, barriers to entry were explicit, such as account minimums, accreditation requirements, and geographic restrictions. In crypto, these barriers are implicit, taking the form of cognitive load, operational risk, and technical competence. Users are expected to understand complex concepts, such as bridge security models, message passing assumptions, and liquidity fragmentation, in order to participate in cross-chain transactions. This has created a regressive tax on less experienced users, who are more likely to bear the costs of inefficiencies, such as higher slippage, illiquid markets, and bridge failures.
The Illusion of Optionality
Proponents of cross-chain often argue that fragmentation is a form of choice, allowing users to select the chain that best suits their needs. However, this optionality is only empowering when users can evaluate and exercise it. In reality, most users do not choose chains based on their needs, but rather follow incentives, social narratives, or standard integrations. This guided behavior benefits those who design the guidelines, rather than the users themselves.
Towards a Solution: Invisibility and Abstraction
The solution to the cross-chain conundrum is not more dashboards, analytics, or tutorials. Instead, we need to prioritize invisibility and abstraction, making cross-chain transactions feel seamless and effortless for users. This means abstracting security assumptions, optimizing liquidity routing, predicting finality, and minimizing failure modes. By doing so, we can create a system that is accessible to all users, regardless of their skill level or experience.
Recentering the User
The industry’s obsession with infrastructure is understandable, but it has come at the cost of user experience. We need to recenter the user, rather than the stack, and prioritize ease of use over complexity. A truly inclusive financial system does not reward people for managing friction, but rather eliminates it. By doing so, we can create a system that is accessible, usable, and beneficial to all users, regardless of their background or experience.
For more information on this topic, please visit https://crypto.news/cross-chain-democratizing-crypto-its-rewarding-a-few/
