DeFi Must Get Easier to Use to Win Over Retail Customers, Uniswap Survey Finds

The many pains of using decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols may be stopping occasional crypto users from experimenting with on-chain services, according to a survey conducted by Uniswap Labs.

In a poll of 1,860 “U.S. retail users,” the company supporting the popular DeFi token trading platform called Uniswap found that many respondents are put off by the complexity and cost of on-chain trading.

The survey indicates permissionless DeFi trading still has a ways to go if it is to succeed in mass adoption. In order to trade on a service such as Uniswap, crypto users must have a wallet, sufficient ether (ETH) to execute and a willingness to pay sometimes-exorbitant gas fees. And that’s if they understand what they’re doing to begin with.

There’s only so much a DeFi service can do about easing fees and self-custody, though. Uniswap Labs said it conducted the survey to get a better understanding of its customers and is committed to increasing educational resources that target these people who currently use centralized services.

“The entire industry now must work to help educate users about how to use DeFi and the benefits of self-custody. These resources can have a measurable impact in helping users build their knowledge base and grow their confidence,” Uniswap Labs wrote in a blog post.

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