Ship or Die at Accelerate 2025: All Your Users, Onchain

Privy founder Henri Stern shares invaluable insights on building successful crypto products and onboarding users to Solana, revealing that the infrastructure gap has closed and it's time for developers to focus on creating compelling user experiences.

Summary

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Henri Stern, co-founder of Privy, delivered a compelling talk at Accelerate 2025 about the state of user onboarding in the crypto space, particularly on Solana. Stern argues that the infrastructure gap in crypto has effectively closed, especially within the Solana ecosystem, thanks to major improvements in scalability, usability, and security over the past three years.

The presentation focused on three key rules for building successful crypto products: meeting users where they are, pruning products to focus on essentials, and letting product design inform infrastructure choices rather than the other way around. Stern emphasized the importance of understanding your target audience and optimizing for either mainstream users (focusing on stablecoins and financial services) or crypto natives (leveraging emergent behaviors and mechanism design).

Stern also highlighted the exciting co-evolution of protocol design, infrastructure, and products within the Solana ecosystem. He praised the rapid feedback loops between builders, infrastructure providers, and the Solana protocol itself, citing this symbiosis as one of the most exciting aspects of the ecosystem.

The talk concluded with a call to action for developers to experiment and build, leveraging the powerful primitives of crypto while focusing on crafting tight, user-centric products that don't overwhelm users with unnecessary complexity.

Key Points:

Meeting Users Where They Are

Henri Stern emphasized the importance of understanding and catering to your target audience when building crypto products. He outlined two main categories of users in the crypto space: mainstream users focused on stablecoins and financial services, and crypto natives interested in emergent behaviors and complex mechanism design.

For mainstream users, the opportunity lies in reshaping global financial rails. Stern suggested that the first trillion-dollar fintech company would likely be built on these rails, as they allow for financial services that operate like software on a global scale. However, these users may not be familiar with crypto wallets and might prefer onboarding through familiar channels like WhatsApp or email.

On the other hand, products aimed at crypto natives can focus on leveraging the unique properties of blockchain technology to create new consumer experiences. While this audience is smaller, the potential for building network effects and generating high user LTV through trading is significant.

Pruning Products to Focus on Essentials

Stern advocated for simplicity and focus in product design, urging developers to resist the temptation to launch with a wide array of features. He stressed that less is often more, and that focusing on core interactions and building up from there is key to success.

Using the example of wallet connector screens, Stern advised against overwhelming users with too many options. Instead, he recommended providing a clear, opinionated "golden path" for users, with escape hatches for those who need alternative options. This approach helps to streamline the user experience and improve conversion rates.

Stern also cautioned against the tendency in crypto to showcase complexity or "OG" status, reminding developers that users generally don't care about the underlying systems and are more interested in how well the product serves their specific use case.

Letting Product Design Inform Infrastructure Choices

The final rule emphasized by Stern was the importance of starting with the desired user experience and product journey, rather than letting available infrastructure dictate product design. He warned against the "engineer's curse" of building overly complex systems based on a series of assumptions that may not hold up when viewed from the user's perspective.

Stern encouraged developers to question their premises, simplify as much as possible, and always ground their decisions in the user experience. He stressed that while crypto products are built on powerful primitives, the job of developers is to break these down and simplify them to create focused, effective products.

Facts + Figures

• Privy has served over 1,000 developers and 50 million users with their onboarding and wallet infrastructure.
• Microsoft's market cap is approximately $3.5 trillion, with about $0.5 trillion based in the US and $3 trillion global.
• JP Morgan's market cap is around $0.5 trillion.
• The potential market for stablecoin-based financial services is in the billions of users.
• The market for crypto-native products is smaller, in the millions of users, but with potentially higher LTV per user.
• Solana has launched confidential transactions, designed with specific applications in mind.
• The symbiosis between app development, infrastructure providers, and protocol design in Solana is creating rapid feedback loops and driving innovation.

Top quotes

• "The gap has effectively been closed. Over the past three years, in huge part in the Solana ecosystem, we've basically seen like major improvements across scalability, usability, and security of these systems."
• "All the systems are here, and we can build the types of experiences that we want to use in crypto today."
• "Trying to create new user behavior is exceptionally hard. Trying to sort of bend your user to the technical primitives that you've chosen is more or less not going to happen for the most part."
• "Crypto is a bit of a tale of two cities today. You've got to really simplify it, stable coins on the one hand, meme coins on the other."
• "The first trillion dollar fintech company is going to be built on these rails and that's because this is the first time that we get to build financial services that are not otherwise sectioned off by currency."
• "Choices hurt conversion for users, have what is the golden path in your product, and then build and escape hatches."
• "Crypto does not have different laws of physics from general product building. It is not because there is a token that you get to absolve yourself of what it means to craft a tighter product."

Questions Answered

What is Privy and what do they offer?

Privy is a company that builds infrastructure for bringing users onchain, regardless of their familiarity with crypto. They offer user onboarding methods, embedded wallets, and low-level key management systems. Privy's solutions are designed to make it easy for developers to create self-custodial wallets and onboard users through familiar means like WhatsApp or existing systems.

How has the crypto landscape changed in recent years, according to Henri Stern?

According to Henri Stern, the infrastructure gap in crypto has effectively closed, especially within the Solana ecosystem. Over the past three years, there have been major improvements in scalability, usability, and security. This means that developers now have all the necessary tools to build compelling crypto experiences without having to wait for further infrastructure development.

What are the two main types of crypto users that developers should consider?

Stern identifies two main categories of crypto users: mainstream users focused on stablecoins and financial services, and crypto natives interested in emergent behaviors and complex mechanism design. Mainstream users represent a larger potential market (billions) but may require simpler onboarding and user experiences. Crypto natives are a smaller market (millions) but offer higher potential LTV through trading and engagement with more complex products.

What are the three key rules for building successful crypto products, according to the presentation?

The three key rules presented are: 1) Meet your users where they are, understanding and catering to your target audience; 2) Prune your product to focus on essentials, avoiding overwhelming users with unnecessary features or complexity; and 3) Let product design inform infrastructure choices, rather than letting available infrastructure dictate product design.

Why is simplicity important in crypto product design?

Simplicity is crucial in crypto product design because it improves user conversion and engagement. Stern emphasizes that overwhelming users with too many options or showcasing the complexity of underlying systems can deter adoption. Instead, developers should focus on creating a clear, opinionated "golden path" for users, with additional options available as escape hatches when needed.

How is the Solana ecosystem unique in terms of product and protocol development?

The Solana ecosystem is characterized by a strong co-evolution of protocol design, infrastructure, and products. There are rapid feedback loops between builders, infrastructure providers like Privy and Helius, and the Solana protocol itself. This symbiosis allows for quick iterations and improvements, with protocol design often informed by specific application needs, as seen with the launch of confidential transactions.

What opportunity does Stern see for building on stablecoin rails?

Stern sees an enormous opportunity in building financial services on stablecoin rails. He suggests that the first trillion-dollar fintech company will likely be built on these rails because they allow for the creation of global financial services that operate like software, unrestricted by traditional currency boundaries. This opens up the potential to serve billions of users worldwide with innovative financial products.

How should developers approach the complexity of crypto primitives when building products?

Developers should focus on breaking down and simplifying the powerful primitives of crypto to create focused, effective products. Stern advises against showcasing complexity or "OG" status, reminding developers that users are generally more interested in how well a product serves their specific use case rather than understanding the underlying systems. The goal should be to leverage the power of crypto primitives while presenting a streamlined, user-friendly experience.