Improve user journeys in Web3 with in-app fiat-crypto infrastructure. Secure, cost-effective, and seamless self-custodial experience.
Improving User Journeys in Web3: In-App Fiat-Crypto Infrastructure Should be the Norm
The world of Web3 is growing rapidly and it is becoming crucial to offer users a better “user journey.” Web3 needs to provide a seamless, secure, cost-effective, and fast way for users to jump in and out of decentralized applications (dapps) while ensuring complete self-custody from start to finish. However, using Web3 can still feel fragmented and convoluted for users. At present, a person looking to use a dapp may need to interact with on-ramps and off-ramps in a separate environment, creating a disjointed experience and leaving room for unnecessary risk.
Current User Journeys
Currently, the first phase of onboarding in Web3 involves creating an account on a popular hot wallet browser extension. Afterwards, users need to go through a service that will debit their bank account and credit crypto to their self-custodial wallet address. This is a significant improvement, as it all happens within the extension that can interact with the dapp.
However, once a user earns cryptocurrency through selling NFTs, winning a Web3 game, or making money with the latest DeFi strategy, it becomes difficult for them to exchange their funds back into fiat within the dapp or browser extension. For most users, the process involves manually sending the funds from the wallet they connected to the dapp to their wallet on some other service, such as a centralized custodial exchange service that’s linked to their bank account. They then have to sell their crypto on that service in order to withdraw the equivalent fiat to their bank account.
A Complete In-App Experience
To resolve this, users do not need an account with a custodial service to change their cryptocurrency back to fiat after using a Web3 application. There are useful widgets that offer dapps the option to easily integrate both ramps natively in a single SDK. This is a step in a development that is too often ignored in most Web3 applications. Users are often left in an “easy to get in, hard to get out” situation.
Completely self-custodial user journeys should be the standard. On-ramps and off-ramps should exist natively within each app, closing the loop for a single ad-hoc self-custodial Web3 experience. The option to transfer funds from the dapp to a fiat bank account should be right there in the features menu.
Why This Needs to Be the Standard
In-app fiat-crypto infrastructure should be the norm and not an afterthought for Web3 applications for many reasons. Presenting users, especially newcomers, with a single self-contained “get in, get out” experience reduces the learning curve for using a particular dapp. A self-custodial user journey is also, by definition, a more secure journey. Users stay in control of their private keys at all times, even if they are not aware of the importance of this feature.
It would make it more cost-effective to interact with the dapp by reducing the number of transaction fees incurred, both for network miners and on exchange services. Similarly, for development teams, it provides them with alternative monetization options while remaining preferable to custodial off-ramping costs. Some developers choose to add a small surcharge to the transaction fee to create an additional and sustainable revenue stream.
Web3 IRL
Users still want to use their funds in the real world. They need to feel that their economic activities in Web3 can fit seamlessly into their real-life economic activities. To give them a tangible sense that this is the case, we need to make the off-ramp process as easy as possible.
Conclusion
As Web3 continues to gain momentum, it is crucial that developers prioritize improving the user experience. By integrating in-app fiat-crypto infrastructure, developers can create a more seamless, secure, and cost-effective user journey, ultimately making it easier for users to jump in and out of decentralized applications. By providing a complete self-custodial experience within each app, developers can reduce the learning curve for newcomers, provide a more secure journey, and help users feel that their Web3 economic activities can fit seamlessly into their real-life activities. As such, in-app fiat-crypto infrastructure should be the norm and not an afterthought for Web3 applications.
