Notes
- Inclusion, adoption and innovation are very closely related: they all support each other.
- Localization and translation are very critical, and under-served. Only 18% of the world speaks any English at all.
- Ways of aiding in the understanding of key web3 concepts might vary greatly between different communities and cultures: eg. anecdote about a person explaining the blockchain to their parent using the Quran.
- To read:
- EF Crypto Awareness report. 92% are aware of web3 but only 8% trust it.
- Only 18% of black adults in the USA vs 29% of white adults possess crypto assets.
- Question #1: Barriers to wallet adoption
- Device Access: we need things to work on phones!
- Internet Connectivity: we need things to work in low bandwidth environments
- Accessibility: we need things to work for folks who aren’t eg. sighted
- Localization: see the points above about English domincance for a mostly non-English world.
- Financial Security: many people don’t have funds they can afford to lose
- Uncompelling Value Prop: what do I need this for on a daily basis?
- Identity requirements: need to give up more than might be needed in order to proof things like KYC. A violation of the principle of least privilege.
- Trust of Self: even if folks are compelled to hold crypto assets, they might not feel comfortable and secure self-custodying (eg. “it feels a bit like hiding gold under my bed”)
- Question #2: What has been done to address these barriers?
- Identity requirements: example of German digital ID where a claim about the ID you possess can be verified without sharing anything else (eg. my Driver’s License is still valid). Been running since 2021.
- Question #3: What are the blind spots?
- Lack of UX research occuring in these projects
- Still not a ton of diversity in hiring
- Anglo-focus
- Over-indexing on “builders”
- Question #4: How can we keep the organizations accountable?
- If they aren’t being inclusive on purpose, don’t patron them
- Make space for new voices and diverse perspectives at industry events
- Do whatever you can to reward and amplify the folks who are actually approaching things with inclusivity in mind