Fred Wilson says 2026 crypto breakthrough will come from UX that hides blockchains

Fred Wilson, a prominent U.S. venture capitalist and founding partner of Union Square Ventures, predicted in a blog post published last week that crypto’s breakthrough in 2026 will come from making blockchains invisible to end users rather than from new blockchains. “Blockchains disappear behind better consumer interfaces that allow users to use, spend, trade, and send tokens without concerning themselves with which blockchain they are on,” Wilson wrote, a view he has expressed previously about hiding blockchain complexity to reach mass-market adoption.

He also previously called bitcoin an "interesting investment opportunity" back in 2011. The prediction was tucked into a longer set of Wilson’s tech forecasts for 2026 and reflects a long-held stance that blockchain’s promise depends on ease of use rather than technical horsepower.

Wilson is a founding partner of USV, the New York-based firm behind early bets on Twitter, Etsy and Tumblr, and he was early to Coinbase, Ethereum and Filecoin. He has also criticized the industry’s culture of hype and token speculation, warning that short-term greed threatens long-term credibility.

Wilson argues the real work includes decentralized identity, peer-to-peer finance and open protocols, and that apps should hide infrastructure details—such as what chain a transaction is on—so users can focus on tasks.

Key Topics

Crypto, Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures, Coinbase, Ethereum, Filecoin