Crypto exchanges and prediction markets attract users by offering a feeling of agency and control, a powerful draw for those who feel the traditional economy is rigged. In reality, these platforms often give users the least amount of actual agency, profiting from a manufactured sense of empowerment.

For hundreds of millions in developing nations, stablecoins are not an investment vehicle but a capital preservation tool. Their core value is providing a simple hedge against high-inflation local currencies by pegging to the USD, a use case that far outweighs the desire for interest yield in those markets.

Analysis of mobile wallet usage versus token-related web traffic reveals a stark geographical divide. Developing countries lead in on-chain activity, suggesting real-world use cases, whereas developed nations lead in trading interest, indicating a focus on speculation.

The primary, world-changing use case for stablecoins isn't cheaper domestic payments. It's providing global, frictionless access to the U.S. dollar. This allows citizens in countries with unstable currencies or untrustworthy central banks to opt-in to the U.S. financial system, effectively exporting America's most powerful product.

Unlike assets like commodities or private markets where institutions pioneer adoption, cryptocurrencies saw retail investors lead the charge. Institutions are only now slowly beginning to explore allocations, reversing the historical trend of top-down financial innovation.

The immediate value for crypto is lower in the US, where traditional finance offers decent consumer protection. In countries with less reliable banking systems, crypto provides a much larger, more immediate leap in security and efficiency, accelerating its adoption.

Western teams often focus on technology, but the highest-volume users of real-world crypto applications like stablecoins and perpetuals are in Asia and Latin America. Their adoption patterns—not theories from New York or Silicon Valley—dictate which solutions ultimately succeed.

After years of exploring various use cases, crypto's clearest product-market fit is as a new version of the financial system. The success of stablecoins, prediction markets, and decentralized trading platforms demonstrates that financial applications are where crypto currently has the strongest, most undeniable traction.

Kyle Samani has completely abandoned the thesis that crypto's future lies in non-financial consumer dApps (Web3). He now believes the thesis is "just wrong." Instead, crypto's primary role in developed nations will be as invisible financial plumbing, while its main user-facing application is for international users who need access to stablecoins.