Welcome to Slate Sundays, a fresh weekly series from CryptoSlate offering in-depth interviews, expert views, and insightful opinions that delve deeper than the surface headlines, exploring the minds and concepts that will mold crypto’s future.
Digital currency transactions are definitely in the spotlight right now.
Consider Circle’s planned public offering, projected to be worth billions, and the GENIUS Act, paving the way for stablecoin regulation. It’s clear the winds of change are blowing strongly in crypto’s favor.
Even significant players on Wall Street, such as JPMorgan and Visa, are actively adding stablecoin technology to their systems, finally acknowledging the power of a superior technology that enables secure and virtually instantaneous value transfer across the globe.
All of which is promising, but…
There’s a less talked-about aspect: the user experience (UX) is still in its early stages.
It can be so frustrating that even the most level-headed people might struggle to stay calm.
Why is that?
Regulatory Challenges Hamper Crypto Payments
The reality is that crypto payment platforms are quickly being integrated into traditional finance, facing increasingly complex regulatory frameworks like Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) requirements, resulting in significant bureaucratic slowdowns.
Having covered the crypto space for nearly a decade and having been compensated in a wide variety of digital tokens, it’s disheartening that receiving crypto payments has become more complicated, rather than easier, despite expectations.
For instance, a client in the UK, holding a Gemini account, wanted to pay me in USDC to my OKX address in Dubai.
After several weeks of discussions and attempts to unlock her business account by submitting numerous KYB documents, she ultimately chose to send the payment through Revolut directly to my bank account, as it was the faster solution.
To make matters worse:
It turned out to be more affordable for her to send the funds, and for me to receive them, using the traditional method.
This situation likely contributed to Gemini’s substantial losses in the first half of 2025. It’s likely they are rapidly losing users.
And OKX? There’s little reason for them to improve services in the UAE, where all exchanges charge a fixed fee of 75 AED (approximately $20) for crypto-to-fiat withdrawals.
While many within the industry welcome regulatory certainty, some are now dealing with double conversion issues: it’s not possible to convert USDC to fiat directly in the UAE, and you can’t get paid in Tether within Europe.
Frustrating!
Converting USDC to USDT to AED (and incurring fees each time) is like trading a horse-drawn carriage for a Ferrari, only to fuel it with molasses.
Don’t even get started on onboarding new crypto users. Trying to explain to a novice that selecting the wrong network from an ever-growing list can mean losing all of their funds forever is not a good look.
Or explaining that keeping funds on an exchange that is hacked can result in the permanent loss of those funds.
Or that losing a seed phrase will mean…
Maybe Revolut is the better option?
The point is, there’s a lot of hype, but the user experience is poor.
Essentially, it’s another banking platform, but more complicated and more expensive, with no safety nets or guarantees. It appears that crypto payments are still under development.
Borderless Payments Are More Effective Locally
That isn’t to say crypto payments are totally ineffective. They perform adequately for transactions within a single country. But so do conventional banks.
Around 32% of small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. have either made or accepted a payment in cryptocurrency. Furthermore, roughly one-third of the estimated 560 million crypto owners regularly use digital assets for transactions, exceeding activities like staking or yield farming.
The GENIUS Act has clarified regulations for stablecoin issuers, and it effectively balances the needs of regulators (consumer protection and anti-money laundering controls) and markets (clear guidelines regarding securities).
Why, then, is the crypto payment user experience still lacking? Shouldn’t blockchain transactions be both cheaper and faster?
Bill Zielke, Chief Revenue Officer at BitPay, a pioneer in crypto payments focused on lowering transaction costs and enabling global transactions, recognizes that some platforms struggle to provide optimal experiences:
“This is a valid concern we often hear from users dealing with wallets and exchanges that aren’t optimized for low-cost transfers. Frequently, high costs are due to unclear fee structures, poor network choices, and cash-out platforms with large spreads or withdrawal fees.”
He explains that BitPay aims to reduce friction by integrating support for cost-efficient networks like Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism. While the risk of selecting the wrong network remains, at least the fees are less painful.
“Users can send and receive payments with much lower confirmation costs than on traditional networks such as Ethereum or Bitcoin.”
Network selection is vital, as fees can fluctuate, and network congestion can cause gas costs to surge.
Most retail users rely on centralized exchanges, which typically charge flat withdrawal fees, similar to OKX. A $20 fee for cashing out can make small payments impractical.
Ben Weiss, CEO of CoinFlip, a long-standing crypto company with over 6,000 Bitcoin ATMs globally, has seen crypto payments evolve. He shares:
“Many crypto payment systems have a fixed fee structure. Whether you’re sending $5 or $1 million in Bitcoin, the fee may be the same… Crypto is less efficient for smaller payments. This is beginning to change, but true efficiency takes time. The interface and usability are still lagging a couple of years behind the core technology.”
In cross-border transfers, crypto is still competing against established systems. The World Bank’s recent study shows traditional remittance fees averaging 6.4-7%, while digital remittances via crypto and mobile channels average around 5%.
While many DeFi solutions are cheaper, they require users to navigate complex wallets and private keys or bridge between networks. This isn’t practical for the average user.
The Appeal of Being Your Own Bank Fades Quickly
Custody is another obstacle for crypto payments. Blockchain technology facilitates peer-to-peer transactions and individual financial control, enabling anyone to be their own bank. However, most people prefer not to manage their own banking.
Self-custody remains a challenge for newcomers, and many don’t grasp the need for financial control if they’ve never experienced account freezes or systematic denial of banking services. Weiss notes:
“Not everyone is interested in self-custody or figuring out cold storage wallets for sending and receiving crypto; they may prefer buying an ETF. I support anything that expands the industry and brings more people into crypto. There’s no single correct method.”
Zeilke adds:
“The main issue today is the user experience. Setting up wallets, high network fees, and the risk of sending assets to the wrong address create barriers for everyday users. However, we’re seeing significant improvements, especially with stablecoins and Layer-2 networks, which are reducing fees and settlement times substantially.
We’re not there yet, but the foundation is set, and progress is being made. With regulatory clarity increasing and infrastructure becoming more user-friendly, we’re moving toward a future where crypto payments are as easy as tapping a card.”
Until sending crypto payments is as straightforward as using a credit card, it won’t become the preferred method for global transactions.
Are We Rebuilding the Banking System We Hoped to Replace?
Crypto initially promised to be faster, cheaper, and more straightforward than traditional banks. However, the practical challenges persist. Echoing Jamie Dimon, if crypto payments aren’t easier than using a bank, what’s the point?
As traditional finance rapidly integrates blockchain technology, are we seeing banks absorb crypto rather than crypto replacing banks?
User experience is lacking, hidden costs accumulate, and cashing out can involve fees similar to wire transfers. Zielke comments on the challenge:
“Mass adoption takes time. Credit cards took decades to become commonplace, requiring trust, consistent infrastructure improvements, and a refined user experience. Crypto payments are on a similar trajectory, but at a much faster pace.”
What does the future hold? The trends are clear: increased institutional adoption, more stablecoin integration, greater regulatory compliance, and a growing use of crypto for high-value transactions and international commerce.
Yet, the path to a seamless everyday payment experience, where crypto is as convenient as tapping a credit card, remains a long one.
The hurdles are no longer solely technical or regulatory but also experiential. Crypto must consistently offer better value than banks, especially for smaller transactions, and sending and receiving must be simple, transparent, and forgiving.
Crypto payments are gaining ground not because they are inherently easy, but because the existing system is still slow, restrictive, and exclusive. While this progress is positive, there’s significant room for improvement. Winning by default isn’t the same as winning by design.
Key improvements and explanations:
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