Web3 is a tax on users. The mental model of managing gas, signing transactions, and approving tokens creates a 90% drop-off rate before transaction completion. This is a product problem, not a scaling one.
the-creator-economy-web2-vs-web3
Blog
Why Payment UX Demands a Shift from 'Web3' to 'Just Apps'
The creator economy's growth is bottlenecked by clunky crypto payment flows. This analysis argues that winning products will abstract blockchain entirely, presenting as familiar apps where 'Web3' is just an implementation detail.
introduction
THE UX IMPERATIVE
Introduction
The current Web3 payment experience is a competitive liability, forcing a fundamental architectural shift from protocol-centric wallets to application-centric flows.
The winning abstraction is 'Just Apps'. Users interact with a product, not a blockchain. Successful models like UniswapX and Coinbase's Smart Wallet abstract the entire wallet and gas experience behind a familiar interface.
Protocols must become plumbing. The future is intent-based architectures where users specify a desired outcome (e.g., 'swap X for Y on the best venue'), and solvers on networks like Anvil, Across, or CowSwap handle the execution complexity.
Evidence: Arbitrum's 2.3M daily transactions are dominated by applications like GMX and Camelot, which bundle gas and simplify approvals, proving users adopt convenience over sovereignty.
thesis-statement
THE UX IMPERATIVE
The Core Argument: Abstraction is Non-Negotiable
Blockchain's mainstream adoption requires the complete technical abstraction of its underlying complexity from the end-user experience.
Users demand 'just apps'. The current Web3 model forces users to act as their own system administrators, managing gas, networks, and wallets. This creates a cognitive tax that kills product-market fit. The winning model is 'just apps' where the blockchain is an invisible backend, like AWS.
Payment abstraction is the first domino. The most jarring UX break is payments. A user with USDC on Arbitrum cannot natively pay for a service on Base. Solving this requires intent-based architectures that abstract away the settlement layer, as pioneered by UniswapX and Across.
Account abstraction enables this shift. ERC-4337 and smart accounts (like those from Safe or Biconomy) are not just about gas sponsorship. They are the foundational layer for session keys, batch transactions, and cross-chain intents, moving complexity from the user to the protocol.
The data proves the demand. Over 5.6 million ERC-4337 smart accounts have been created. Layer 2s like Arbitrum and Optimism now process over 90% of Ethereum's transactions, proving users migrate to chains with lower explicit friction, even if underlying complexity remains.
market-context
THE UX CHASM
The Creator Economy's Payment Bottleneck
The technical abstraction of wallets and gas fees creates a user experience barrier that prevents mainstream creator monetization.
Payment friction kills conversion. The current Web3 onboarding flow—installing a wallet, securing seed phrases, buying ETH, and paying gas—imposes a 10+ minute cognitive tax for a $5 purchase.
Creators need 'just apps'. Successful platforms like Farcaster and Highlight abstract wallets into backend infrastructure, letting users pay with credit cards while settlements use Base or Solana Pay.
Gas is a tax on microtransactions. A $2.99 unlockable post is economically impossible when a Polygon transaction costs $0.01; the solution is batched settlements or sponsored transactions via Gelato or Biconomy.
Evidence: Platforms using Crossmint for card-based NFT checkout report a 300% increase in purchaser conversion versus standard MetaMask flows, proving abstraction drives adoption.
key-trends
WHY PAYMENT UX DEMANDS A SHIFT
Three Trends Proving the 'Just Apps' Thesis
Users don't want to manage blockchains; they want to pay. These trends show why the winning stack is app-centric, not chain-centric.
01
The Gas Abstraction Imperative
Users reject paying for gas. The winning payment app will absorb or eliminate this friction entirely.\n- ERC-4337 Account Abstraction enables sponsored transactions and session keys.\n- Paymasters allow apps to subsidize fees in stablecoins or loyalty points.\n- ~90% of new users fail their first transaction due to gas complexity.
-100%
User Gas Cost
90%
Funnel Drop-off
02
Intent-Based Settlement (UniswapX, Across)
Order-flow auctions and solver networks abstract chain selection. The user states a goal ('swap X for Y'), and the system finds the best path.\n- UniswapX outsources routing to off-chain solvers, enabling cross-chain swaps without bridging.\n- Across uses a unified liquidity pool and optimistic verification for ~30s finality.\n- This moves complexity from the user to the app's infrastructure layer.
~30s
Settlement Time
20%+
Better Rates
03
Embedded On-Ramps & Off-Ramps
Fiat-to-crypto conversion must be a seamless, in-app primitive, not a multi-tab odyssey.\n- Stripe, MoonPay, Crossmint provide one-line SDKs for <2-minute onboarding.\n- Direct off-ramps to bank accounts (e.g., via Circle's CCTP) are becoming standard.\n- This trend cements the app as the primary financial interface, not the wallet.
<2 min
Onboarding Time
1-Click
Checkout Flow
THE FIVE-SECOND TEST
Web2 vs. Web3 Payment UX: A Friction Audit
A first-principles breakdown of the cognitive and mechanical load required to complete a payment, comparing dominant Web2 models against the current Web3 baseline.
| Friction Dimension | Web2 (Stripe / Apple Pay) | Web3 Native (Wallet Connect) | Web3 Abstraction (Privy / Dynamic) |
|---|---|---|---|
User Action Count (to Payment) | 1-2 taps | 5-7 steps | 2-3 steps |
New User Time-to-Pay | < 30 seconds |
| < 90 seconds |
Required User Knowledge | Card Details / Biometrics | Seed Phrases, Gas, Networks | Email / Social Login |
Guaranteed Transaction Success |
| < 95% (RPC/Nonce/Gas errors) |
|
Final Settlement Time | 2-3 business days | < 12 seconds (Ethereum L1) | < 2 seconds (Optimism/Base) |
Direct Refund Capability | |||
Fraud Liability on User | false (shifted to relayer) | ||
Average Fee Burden | 2.9% + $0.30 | $1.50 - $50+ (network gas) | $0.01 - $0.10 (sponsored) |
deep-dive
THE UX IMPERATIVE
The Anatomy of a 'Just App' Payment
Abstracting blockchain complexity is the prerequisite for mainstream payment adoption.
The wallet is the bottleneck. Requiring users to manage seed phrases, sign transactions, and approve gas fees for every interaction creates a 90% drop-off rate. The 'Just App' model eliminates this by making the app the sole interface.
Intent-based architecture solves this. Users express a desired outcome ('pay $10 to X'), not a transaction. The app's backend, using solvers like UniswapX or CowSwap, handles routing, bridging via Across, and execution. The user sees one confirmation.
Account abstraction enables the backend. Smart accounts (ERC-4337) and Paymaster contracts allow apps to sponsor gas and batch operations. This shifts the cognitive load from the user to the protocol, enabling familiar UX patterns like subscriptions.
Evidence: Visa's Solana pilot processes 2,200 TPS for USDC settlements, a metric impossible with standard wallet confirmations. The backend uses a managed, abstracted flow, not individual user-signed transactions.
protocol-spotlight
PAYMENT UX ANALYSIS
Who's Getting It Right? (And Who Isn't)
The future of crypto payments isn't about 'Web3' complexity; it's about apps that abstract it away entirely.
01
Solana Pay & Phantom: The Frictionless Standard
They treat crypto as a native payment rail, not a novelty.\n- Direct on-chain settlement eliminates bridge risk and L2 withdrawal delays.\n- QR-based point-of-sale with ~1s finality makes in-store payments viable.\n- Fee subsidization models hide gas costs from end-users.
~1s
Finality
$0.0001
Avg. Cost
02
Telegram/TON & The Mini-App Model
They embed finance directly into a social graph, removing the 'app download' hurdle.\n- 900M+ users accessed via a single tap, no seed phrases.\n- Intent-based swaps via bots abstract wallet management.\n- Closed-loop economies (e.g., Stars, Notcoin) bootstrap utility before interoperability.
900M+
Built-in Users
0-Click
Onboarding
03
The L2 Fallacy: Still Too Much 'Web3'
Networks like Arbitrum and Optimism improved scalability but failed the UX test.\n- Users still need to bridge assets, manage separate L2 gas tokens, and understand rollup mechanics.\n- Account abstraction progress is slow; most dApps still expose gas fees and confirmation pop-ups.\n- The mental model remains 'blockchain first,' not 'task first.'
7 Days
Withdrawal Delay
Multi-Step
User Journey
04
Cross-Chain Intents: The Abstracted Future (Across, UniswapX)
They shift the paradigm from moving assets to solving for outcomes.\n- User submits a signed intent (e.g., 'Swap 100 USDC for ETH on Base').\n- Solver networks compete to fulfill it optimally across any liquidity source.\n- User gets the result without ever approving a bridge contract or seeing a chain ID.
~30s
Fill Time
Best Rate
Guarantee
05
Stripe & The On-Ramp Trap
They solved fiat-to-crypto but created a dead end.\n- Smooth onboarding with card payments and KYC.\n- But users are dumped into a self-custody wallet with no guidance, facing immediate complexity.\n- It's a feature, not a product—success requires embedding the entire post-onboarding journey.
<2 Min
Onboard Time
High
Drop-off Rate
06
Visa & The Stablecoin Settlement Layer
They ignore retail UX to rebuild wholesale banking.\n- USDC settlement between institutions on Solana and Ethereum reduces float and cost.\n- This validates blockchain as a superior back-end, not a consumer-facing protocol.\n- The lesson: The most successful 'apps' may be invisible, powering the legacy system they aim to replace.
$10B+
Volume
24/7
Settlement
counter-argument
THE UX IMPERATIVE
The Purist's Rebuttal: Are We Losing the Point?
The obsession with self-custody and decentralization is actively harming adoption by ignoring the payment experience users demand.
The user is not a node. The average person does not care about cryptographic proofs; they care about a seamless payment. The Web3 purist's mental model forces users to manage gas, sign transactions for every hop, and understand bridging, which is a catastrophic UX failure.
Payment apps abstract the chain. Successful platforms like Coinbase Commerce and MoonPay hide the blockchain entirely. They provide a familiar credit card flow, handle gas optimization, and settle on-chain. This is the dominant payment pattern, not wallet pop-ups.
The infrastructure must be invisible. For payments, the blockchain is a back-end settlement layer. The front-end must be a simple API call. Protocols like Stripe and Circle's USDC succeed because they treat crypto as a protocol, not a product. The point is the transfer of value, not the ceremony of transfer.
takeaways
PAYMENTS ARE BROKEN
TL;DR for Builders and Investors
The current 'Web3' paradigm of wallet pop-ups, gas fees, and chain selection is a UX dead-end for mainstream payments. Winning requires building 'just apps'.
01
The Problem: Abstraction is a Tax
Every layer of abstraction (wallets, RPCs, block explorers) adds friction and cognitive load. Users don't want to 'interact with a smart contract'; they want to pay.
- Gas Sponsorship is now table stakes, not a feature.
- Session Keys (like those in dYdX) enable ~500ms transaction signing.
- The goal: user flow should mirror Web2's 'Pay with Google' button.
~90%
Drop-off Rate
10+
Clicks to Pay
02
The Solution: Intent-Based Architectures
Shift from prescribing how (transaction specs) to declaring what (desired outcome). Let a solver network handle the complexity.
- UniswapX and CowSwap pioneered this for swaps.
- Across and Socket use it for bridging.
- Result: Gasless UX, MEV protection, and optimal route discovery without user input.
$1B+
Volume Processed
0
Gas for User
03
The Infrastructure: Programmable Wallets
The wallet must become a silent, programmable credential manager, not a constant pop-up.
- ERC-4337 Account Abstraction enables social recovery and batched ops.
- Privy, Dynamic, Capsule abstract key management entirely.
- Particle Network and ZeroDev offer SDKs for under 5-minute integration.
5 min
Integration Time
-99%
Support Tickets
04
The Endgame: Chain-Agnostic UX
Users should never see 'Select Network'. Payments must flow seamlessly across Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and Base.
- LayerZero and CCIP enable universal messaging.
- Squid and Li.Fi aggregate liquidity across 50+ chains.
- The app chooses the optimal chain for cost/speed; the user sees only 'Payment Complete'.
50+
Chains Abstracted
~2s
Cross-Chain Settle
05
The Metric: Time-to-Value
Measure success in seconds from intent to outcome, not transactions per second.
- Stripe set the standard: <10 seconds for first payment.
- Magic Eden's Tensor integration cut NFT checkout time by 70%.
- Visa's crypto pilot settled in sub-2 seconds. This is the benchmark.
<10s
Target TTV
70%
Faster Checkout
06
The Pivot: From 'Web3 Native' to 'Payment Native'
Stop building for wallet-downloaders. Build for anyone with a credit card or bank account.
- Crossmint and MoonPay enable fiat on-ramps in 2 clicks.
- Circle's CCTP bridges USDC natively with regulatory clarity.
- The winning stack is invisible, using crypto as a settlement rail, not a user-facing brand.
2 Clicks
Fiat to Crypto
$30B+
Stablecoin Volume
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