The Three Major Misconceptions of Encryption Applications: Breaking Through Blind Spots to Move Towards the Mainstream

Recently, the founder of a well-known company revealed its latest strategic direction in a gathering of industry elites. While leveraging policy advantages to enter the U.S. market is eye-catching, what is truly astonishing is their bold breakthrough into everyday consumption scenarios. This marks the official departure of encryption from its niche label, as it begins to enter the mainstream business sector.

The company's strategy is quite bold: while promising to protect privacy, convincing the American public to obtain "real person certification" through iris scanning remains a daunting task. However, they have quietly laid a threefold guarantee for this ambitious plan.

Product value comes first, token incentives come second

The company initially also tried the traditional route: attracting users through token incentives. This method, known as the "Bitcoin success model," was later imitated by many projects, but the causal relationship was reversed. In early tests, they encountered problems—over-incentivization did attract users but also drew criticism from privacy advocates and some developers.

However, the reason Bitcoin has been able to develop to this day is that it has provided a revolutionary asset logic from the very beginning: decentralization, a fixed total supply, and immunity from central bank control. Although miner rewards and the myth of skyrocketing prices attracted early speculators, and later also attracted institutions and countries, what the true builders who remained valued was its potential as a brand new asset and payment system, rather than the "get-rich-quick expectations".

The encryption world also needs to follow the basic laws of economics. Like any startup project, the first step is to develop a practical product, and then consider using tokens to solve cold start or ecological incentive issues. Otherwise, no matter how complex the economic model is, it will just be a castle in the air.

This time, the company's founder raised three real pain points: the human-machine recognition problem in the fields of social, gaming, and credit. He explained in detail why it is worthwhile for users to scan their irises to obtain "real person certification."

In the era of rapid development of artificial intelligence, we will eventually face the need for "real person authentication"; the company is just one step ahead.

Adapt to "Infrastructure Reversal"

During the early encryption craze, many people got involved. At that time, it was generally believed that the design of the Bitcoin experiment would completely change the payment and financial systems within two or three years. A decade has passed, and we have only just begun.

To bring encryption products to the public, it is essential to maintain consistency with the experiences that traditional users and merchants are accustomed to. This means building a bridge between the old systems and new technologies. This process often requires making some compromises that may not be ideal in the eyes of "encryption purists."

This stage is unavoidable. One must go through the awkward period of "coexistence of the old and the new"—some call it infrastructure reversal. Imagine: dial-up internet occupying phone lines, the first car bumpily driving on gravel roads; these are all inevitable transitional phases.

This "technological transition period" makes it difficult for the new system to be rapidly and widely promoted, and can only play a role in specific areas, unable to completely disrupt the existing system. The field of artificial intelligence also faces similar challenges.

The company initially tried to skip this stage and directly promote with tokens as the main focus. But the new version has completely changed the strategy: accepting "infrastructure reversal," returning to product practicality, and proceeding more steadily and deeply.

Do not fantasize about creating a universally applicable wallet that is not compatible with existing systems. Deposits and withdrawals must be as smooth as PayPal was for online payments back in the day; otherwise, mainstream adoption will be difficult.

This is why the new version of the application integrates mainstream payment systems as soon as it goes live. Trust, familiarity, and practicality are achieved all at once. It is precisely because it is willing to "be backward compatible" that traditional finance has the opportunity to observe and experiment, rather than being directly eliminated.

This approach is quietly promoting the application of encryption technology in the field of cross-border payments. In the future, these technologies may become mainstream, but before that, they need to find a foothold in the existing system, optimize processes, and reduce friction.

It is worth noting that many encryption mechanisms (including economic models) only work effectively after they have been scaled. However, to achieve scale, it is essential to attract users first. Without a basic entry point, even the most perfect model cannot be effective.

The success of encryption technology depends on practical applications

Like all new technologies, the success of encryption technology is not guaranteed. Do not be misled by the myths of its fervent supporters. Specifically, the core concept of "decentralization" in encryption technology and its key contribution to disrupting the market has never been a foregone conclusion.

Stablecoins are a great example.

To connect with traditional financial systems, the encryption world has created this tool, which is indeed very practical. However, the problem that arises is that the shadows of centralized management and closed networks reappear.

I tend to believe that open architecture will ultimately prevail, but let's not forget that those vested interests won't let you through easily.

The founder of the company and his team made a bold bet: they bet that users would care about the decentralized control of their data, and they also bet that businesses would build a better user experience on this system. Once decentralized identity challenges the existing landscape, it will face huge challenges—centralized participants inherently have advantages in user experience and functionality.

Therefore, if the company wants to overtake on the curve, the top priority is to persuade users to be willing to provide their biometric data. The U.S. market has already begun trials, and it will soon be seen whether they can find a balance between "privacy and convenience."

Of course, adopting a more gentle approach might be wiser: for example, first issuing a familiar "certification badge" that can unlock additional features in commonly used applications. There is no need to rush to require users to undergo iris scanning immediately. However, this would reduce the reliability of identity verification, making it easier to misuse or bypass.

The founder's judgment may be correct. In the ongoing game with artificial intelligence, only highly secure biometrics can provide truly reliable authentication. But that does not mean he cannot take a more moderate approach to avoid pushing users towards overly radical choices from the very beginning.

Users seeking quick profits will certainly be eager to participate, but this excitement lasts only a few days at most; once the incentives stop, the enthusiasm will fade. Real sustainable growth exists only in the realization of daily value, which is where their true opportunity lies.

If the company's application can attract users through an excellent payment experience, coupled with smooth global capital inflow and outflow channels, then it may truly achieve a breakthrough.

Conclusion

It seems that they have now bet all their chips. Next, there is only one thing we need to focus on:

Can the encryption world truly enter the mainstream market?

Regardless of whether this experiment ultimately succeeds or not, I hope to see more encryption projects willing to shift their focus from "tokenomics" and "price volatility" to developing truly practical everyday products.

Although this transition is not particularly eye-catching, it is a crucial step that the entire industry must take to enter the mainstream market.