Looking back, when we go to different blockchain conferences and meetups, one of the most common themes is "mass adoption".

Despite the feeling that a lot of progress has been made in the space, many people don’t believe that this kind of blockchain mass adoption is imminent.

This makes me wonder why this is happening and what is the main obstacle? What did blockchain projects do wrong that didn't lead to widespread adoption of their products and services?

Below are my personal insights from multiple conversations I had with various people in the cryptocurrency community and my personal experience working in the space over the years and seeing many blockchain startups.

For me, while the issue is complex and there are many elements within it, the matter boils down to a few basic questions. Please keep in mind that I'm representing the human side and not covering anything related to technology as I'm sure there are many more people out there who are better equipped to do this than I am.

Honestly, I think we are destroying our dreams ourselves. Unfortunately, we need to change the way we achieve our goals to increase our chances.

In order to gain mass adoption, you need to solve the problems of the masses.

This might sound obvious, but in many cases, projects I've come across ignore this seemingly obvious point. I've seen many teams come up with an idea not because it solves a real problem, but because they just love blockchain and later try to sell a solution to a problem that people didn't have in the first place. This is a daunting task.

stick to technology

This is the big problem. Blockchain projects are often so focused on technology that they miss the human element. They create purely technical teams and focus on building their own technical solutions, and only when they're ready do they start thinking about everything else. They talk to other technical people, meet other startups at all these conferences and meetups - but they rarely talk to non-technical end users, or don't do so until much later.

You can't imagine how many blockchain startups don't think about their go-to-market strategy until 30 days before launch.

speak a different language

I'm Armenian myself...so if I want to communicate with more people than in my country, I need to use English.

It's the same here... the masses don't speak technical language.

They don't understand crypto and blockchain jargon, and aren't fascinated by what tech teams are excited about. So here, as a blockchain project, you need to translate your message into an international human language that a lot of people will understand.

One simple tweak is to talk less about technology and functionality and more about end-user benefits.

Changing lifestyle and habits is almost impossible

One of the main reasons my mom, or any other non-technical person, has yet to get into cryptocurrency is that the barriers to entry are high. Yes, I know anyone can open a wallet, I didn't mean that. It's a benefit reward equation. Cryptocurrencies require more effort than the average person is willing to put in, but it simply doesn't fit their way of life.

We send email with one click, we don't care how it works and we don't need to. We use it because it's convenient, effective and easy to use. We know banks are evil, but people don't turn to cryptocurrencies because even using a not-so-good banking app is much easier than dealing with cryptocurrencies.

What a lot of people are trying to do is educate people on how to get into the cryptocurrency space by learning how to use the tools that are currently available. Frankly, these tools were created by techies for techies. Cryptocurrency practitioners don't care so much about UI. User experience, design and convenience (just look at Bitcointalk!).

I think if instead of having people learn everything, we focus on creating a more human-friendly solution that people can use like they email us, our chances of converting them are higher.

misconceptions about community

For blockchain projects in the ICO era, only the community is required to sell tokens. Later, some startups saw these token buyers as a burden and unnecessary hassle.

Now, when there aren't that many ICOs around, by the above logic, many projects don't think they need a community.

This is actually wrong, if you are a B2C project, even if you don't have a token, you still need a community from day one.

The difference is - you need a community of future end users.

A strong and healthy community will help you acquire users and take on the service...or fight back immediately, as the Steemit community did after a hostile takeover.

guess what?

Unlike some of you, they do speak the language of your users, and may be such a much-needed bridge between technology and the masses. This is why I truly believe that a B2C project without a community will never have a chance of mass adoption.

There are many factors to consider and all these parts need to work together and in sync for better results. I firmly believe that most projects need to change the way they look at the business if they really want to gain new perspectives.

So, for them and for you, I would say that unless most blockchain projects put end users at the heart of everything they do, mass adoption will be a challenge that blockchains will never be able to overcome.