We can confidently say that cryptocurrencies have gone mainstream this cycle. From major ETF approvals of Bitcoin and Ethereum, to stablecoin legislation and more institutional and governmental adoption. However, one key piece is missing and that’s retail investors a.k.a the regular person. Many analysts are wondering why retail adoption is lagging behind institutional adoption.
The previous cycle, for example, was fueled by unprecedented money printing by all major central banks around the world. NFTs also played a key role in bringing new people into the space. Unfortunately many of them got burned when the bubble bursted, and perhaps they won’t come back?
Now that the industry has grown and the big players have joined us, the landscape has changed from the early days of internet freedom to a regulated and corporate structure. You can read more about this topic in my previous article The Taming of the Crypto Wild West: How Regulation is Fencing in Digital Freedom.
That is why it’s now more important than ever to on-board new users responsible into the space. Instead of quick money schemes, pump and dumps, and worthless JPEGs. New users need to be equipped with the knowledge required to traverse this new technological frontier.
One niche “market” that has survived this unusual cycle are the memecoins. Acting as a bright light that attracts inexperienced traders, fooled by the survivor bias of a few influencers that were able to make a quick profit. This zero-sum game often happens on centralized VC-backed blockchains which sacrifice security and decentralization for speed. For the uninitiated, funny names coupled with flashing graphics and fast transactions represents their main crypto experience.
Survival is not Progress
Long gone are the days when cypherpunks would hack away a new paradigm in which to transact away from the all-seeing eye of the governments and banks; or are they? Of course the powers that be would never have let this happen. One could even argue that it went under their radar for longer than it should have. Even though Blackrock, JP Morgan and friends have been extending their tentacles across all blockchains and turning them to their side, major cypherpunk projects like Monero still endure.
While the ethos of self-sovereignty and privacy endures in pockets of the cryptoverse, it is at risk of being drowned out by noise, misinformation, and the lure of speculative gambling. Without education, new users will enter the space with unrealistic expectations and leave disillusioned, or worse.
This is where responsible on-boarding becomes critical. Education is not just about teaching people how to set up a wallet or avoid phishing scams (though that’s certainly important). It’s about empowering users to understand the principles that make crypto worth fighting for in the first place: decentralization, censorship resistance, self-custody, and open access to financial tools.
Education is Key
We need to build educational resources that don’t just teach users how to ape into the latest token, but how to critically assess a project’s tokenomics, governance model, and long-term viability. We need tools that help people differentiate between layer 1s with meaningful innovations and those propped up by venture capital, influencer hype and marketing budgets. And we need to encourage healthy skepticism towards projects that promise the world with little explanation.
Platforms, builders, and influencers all have a role to play here. Exchanges must stop prioritizing quick trading volume over long-term trust. Influencers must move beyond the “number go up” narrative and take responsibility for the audiences they shape. And developers must start thinking of onboarding not just as UX design, but as a deeply ethical process.
Most importantly, we need to reconnect with the roots of this movement. The early Bitcoin forums weren’t about getting rich overnight, they were about building a fairer, freer financial system. Education isn’t just about retention, it’s about preserving the spirit that made crypto revolutionary in the first place.
The next wave of adoption will be different. It must be. Because if we fail to educate, we’re not just failing retail, we’re handing over the future of decentralized technology to the very forces it was meant to resist.
Reclaiming the Narrative
If the crypto space is to survive in a meaningful way, not just as a speculative playground for the rich or a back-end upgrade to traditional finance, we must be intentional about shaping its future. This isn’t just about protecting retail investors from poor financial decisions. It’s about ensuring that crypto doesn’t become just another arm of the very system it was created to disrupt.
Right now, the mainstream narrative is dominated by headlines: ETF approvals, corporate adoption, bitcoin treasuries, and the latest memecoin mania. These headlines attract attention but rarely lead to meaningful understanding. Worse, they feed the perception that crypto is either a get-rich-quick scam or a high-tech playground for the tech elites.
To counter this, we need to foster a new kind of crypto literacy, one that doesn’t just teach people how to interact with the tools, but why those tools exist in the first place. Imagine if every new crypto user began their journey with a primer on economic sovereignty, data privacy, and the importance of trustless systems. That’s the kind of onboarding that could change the game.
Practical Paths Forward
- Grassroots Education Initiatives: Just as early Bitcoin meetups helped spread the word in the 2010s, we need a revival of community-driven educational events. Local meetups, online seminars, and hands-on workshops can bridge the gap between the abstract ideals of crypto and the real-world skills people need.
- Transparent Content Creation: Influencers and educators need to lead with integrity. That means disclosing sponsorships, avoiding sensationalist content, and centering the values of open source and self-sovereignty. As audiences mature, they’ll gravitate toward those who provide real value, not just hype.
Rebuilding Trust
One of the biggest barriers to retail reentry is psychological: many people simply don’t trust crypto anymore. After witnessing massive frauds like FTX, Luna’s collapse, and countless rug pulls, it’s hard to blame them. To bring these users back, the industry needs to offer something more than the promise of a “new bull run.”
Moreover, projects that survived the bear market and maintained their integrity should be celebrated. Protocols like Cardano, Ergo, Monero, and others that didn’t chase VC funding or compromise on decentralization provide valuable case studies in resilience. We should lift them up as examples of what’s possible when tech and ethics align.
A Culture Shift
To truly onboard the next billion users, crypto must evolve not just in terms of technology, but in terms of culture. Right now, too much of the space is dominated by greed, tribalism, and short-term thinking. But another current runs beneath this surface: one rooted in open-source collaboration, financial empowerment, and permissionless innovation.
We’ve seen glimpses of what’s possible when people rally around shared ideals. The success of community-driven DAOs, privacy-preserving protocols, and decentralized identity systems show that crypto can be more than just money. It can be a tool for global change.
That vision won’t appeal to everyone. Some will always be here for the thrill of speculation. But if we want this movement to last, we need to nurture a culture that goes deeper than price charts.
Conclusion
Crypto stands at a crossroads. On one side lies further centralization, corporatization, and regulatory capture. On the other lies a future that fulfills the promise of financial freedom and digital sovereignty.
Retail investors are not just passengers on this journey, they are its heart. If we fail to bring them along responsibly, the entire project risks becoming a hollow shell. But if we succeed, if we invest in education, ethics, and empowerment we could see a renaissance of grassroots innovation unlike anything we’ve experienced before.
The tools are ready. The infrastructure exists. What we need now is leadership not just from developers and founders, but from every participant in this ecosystem. From the way we onboard newcomers to the culture we cultivate online, every decision matters.
The next bull market will come, as they always do. The question is: will we be ready? Will we use that moment not just for profit, but for purpose? Crypto was never just about price. It was about power, who gets to hold it, who gets to share it, and who gets to build the future with it. Let’s make sure we don’t forget that.
