This is the guide I first shared back in 2022. Lately, my friend Riely pointed out that it's still useful so decided to move it to my blog, so it can reach more people.

Explaining crypto products is hard.

Users are:

Confusing one category with another:
– “Oh, so if you provide yield, you must be a lending platform?”
– “No, we are a liquidity pool.”

Not seeing the difference between you and the competition:
– “Oh, so you’re like Axie Infinity?”
– “Well, our game also has NFTs, but it’s totally different…”

Expecting features that don’t make sense in your product category:
– “Why your web3 social doesn’t let me import my e-mail contacts?”

And it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Some time ago even pro-crypto Lex Friedman showed some knowledge gaps when he asked Brian Armstrong if Coinbase is a Layer3 technology.

Before crypto, I spent 7 years making complex products easy to understand, so I started looking for a way to make crypto less confusing.

I’ve talked with 100+ web3 founders, both as part of running my builders-oriented podcast Web3 Talks and through casual conversations. I also went through top web3 projects of the time to find examples of great product communications.

I filled this guide with 40 examples of Good & Bad product communication from projects such as Zapper, Dune, Arweave, Royal, Ledger & many more. To make the lessons easier to understand, I created alternative versions of their websites (you’ll understand what I mean in a second).

The whole guide is organized around 5 simple rules:
#1: Make them care.
#2: Make it easy to understand
#3: Show why your product can solve their problems
#4: Help them believe you will deliver on your promises
#5: Convince them to try it now

Let’s go!

***

One confusing thing about crypto is that your users are often your investors. They buy your token or NFTs, and part of them do that for pure speculation. So some projects decided to turn their Landing Pages into pitch decks. 

For example, the project says they’re a “Tokenized metaverse platform to empower next generation of creator economy.” 

And I agree that for VCs, it might be okay. They must explain to their LPs why their “Metaverse fund” wants to invest in this product. Also, speculators who look for coins that will go up when #Metaverse is trending on Twitter are also happy to see this keyword on your website.

But most users don’t. They only care how your product can make their lives better. 

Alternative Arweave website focused on investors:

Real Arweave website that’s user-centric:

Another confusing thing about crypto is that tech is extremely important. 

For users, it makes a difference if your product is built on Ethereum, Solana, or Polkadot.
It might be crucial for them to understand what consensus mechanism your protocol uses.
And it matters if your wallet is secured by MPC or Multi-sig.

But… You can leave it for the second sentence. And FAQ. And Whitepaper. 

First, you need your user’s attention. As Guy Kawasaki says: “We live in a Tinder world. Interesting? Swipe right. Not interesting? Swipe left."

So it’s worth following the good old advertising mantra: Use the first 3 seconds to buy your next 10 seconds. Use your next 10 seconds to buy the next 30 seconds. And when they’re hooked, you can go on with your message.

Users need to get excited by your headline. And when they understand why they should care, they can go on to learn more.

Alternative Royal website focused on “How will I get it”:

Real Royal website that starts with “What will I get”:

We all know that Satoshi started Bitcoin for a bigger cause. But it doesn’t mean that a user investing his life savings in CumRocket shares Satoshi’s vision. And we sometimes forget that.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a business developer from a web3 project that offered a product for DAOs. He summed his experiences with: “They were laughing at our big vision of democratizing security”.  (2025 update: they figured it out, and their project is one of the top DAO toolings out there :))

But aren’t DAOs here for a bigger cause? Some of them are. But they have more pressing, tangible priorities.

They care about their smart contract not getting hacked.
About contributors not disappearing during the bear market.
About their token not getting dumped so that people start thinking they’re a scam project.

So if you come with a Sinek-style Start-With-Why big vision, they won’t care. 

Big visions are good for bull markets and a small subset of users (mostly – early adopters) who really care about them. But most users don’t care. And the more mainstream crypto gets, the fewer of them will care.

That’s why we need to understand our users’ priorities, a.k.a. their most pressing selfish interests* before we start talking about our product.

*If you think addressing selfish interests is against crypto ethos, think about Bitcoin. Bitcoin works because it uses game theory to efficiently address the selfish interests of miners, investors, developers & users.

Alternative LearnWeb3 website focused on its big mission:

Real LearnWeb3 website addressing developers’ priorities:

Web3 startups, just like web2 ones, love to sound cool. That’s human nature. But it’s often counter-productive.

It has been observed by advertising legend David Ogilvy in 1985, years before the Internet:
“Some copywriters write tricky headlines – double meanings, puns, and other obscurities. This is counter-productive. In the average newspaper, your headline has to compete with 350 others. Readers travel fast through this jungle. Your headline should telegraph what you want to say.”

Although in culture & arts-oriented projects like NFT collections playing games with your audience might work, in most other web3 projects, it doesn’t.

Alternative Ledger website tries to sound cool: 

Real Leger website is much more specific:

 ***

Most crypto products are new to the average Joe. But not for us as we have already been using them for months or years. So it’s easy to forget that we need to explain how it works.

So sometimes the new product is communicated in a vague way. And there are so many scams in crypto that if something is unclear, people take a mental shortcut: “if it’s unclear, it’s shady.” 

Adjusting the communication to the level of novelty is not limited to web3, of course. The first iPhone commercials were walkthroughs that explained its features step by step. Now with over 2 billion iPhones sold, they just show how cool photos it takes.

Same with Amazon, who had some really weird but informative commercials when their product was new.

Web3 is no exception here. OpenZeppelin, in 2018, had to explain to developers how it works. Today as a de facto standard, their team can focus on other things.

Real 2018 OpenZeppelin website:

Real 2022 OpenZeppelin website: 

This is a thing that happens in both web3 and web2. Copywriters really like to use words like “cutting-edge,” “state-of-the-art,” and “supercharge” because they think it makes the startup look innovative.

But do we really scratch our heads in front of computers and think, “Hmm, maybe I just need a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art blockchain infrastructure to supercharge my dapp?” 

Probably not.

And the goal of your copy is to naturally enter your user’s thinking process. So the rule of thumb is: “If this phrase could be found in McKinsey report, it’s probably not clear enough.”

We should aspire to one-liner phrases such as: Tap the app get a ride. Three clicks and your holiday is booked. And so on. If you find it hard, you might use GPT4 or ask people on Reddit’s ELI5 for help.

Alternative QuickNode website is full of useless buzzwords:

Real QuickNode website explains what they do in layman’s terms:

Web3 has been blessed with interoperability. This means that developers can build on top of your protocol. But sometimes, it means that when you address both developers and users, you can overwhelm users with tech. Or starve potential developers with too few tech details about your infra project. 

We talked about not starting with tech in the first sentence. But it’s also important to balance the amount of tech information in the next parts.

And you can’t do it well if you don’t know how technical your users are.

So if you address crypto OGs who understand the difference between optimistic rollups & zk-rollups and you talk about basic stuff, they’d think, “Where’s the beef? Is the tech weak here, and that’s why they don’t talk about it?”.

But if you address newcomers who send their seed phrases to fake Twitter MetaMask support, then they’d think: “What is this consensus mechanism? I just want to buy some crypto!”

Coinbase, for example, always targeted less tech-savvy users and they used haven’t focused too much on the tech side.

Real 2013 Coinbase website even explained what Bitcoin was:

Real 2022 Coinbase website is still very simple:

Ethereum, on the other hand, targeted cryptography-fluent devs. Imagine reading their website in 2014 without having a clue what Ethereum might look like in practice.

Real 2014 Ethereum Foundation website is very technical:

As Ethereum became more mainstream and its explanation evolved, it started reaching also less tech-savvy audiences.

Real 2022 Ethereum Foundation website:

One note. Understanding “How technically advanced are your users?” is going to impact all your communications. Your landing page. Twitter posts. FAQs. Blogs. Memes you share. Copywriters you hire. And so on.

The marketer who shilled Logan Paul’s NFTs might not be a great fit for an infra project. And vice versa.

We all know blockchain explanations that start with “Alice & Bob want to make a transaction.” 

We also know zk-proof explanations that start with “How could you prove you know where Waldo is without revealing his position?”.

And we remember them because they work. They stick to our minds. 

So whenever you’re building a new product, think about a metaphor or analogy that might work (try not going for a “Uber for X” shortcut).

Alternative MetaMask website that doesn’t use any metaphor:

Real MetaMask website that’s focused on the gateway metaphor:

We all love beautiful, memorable websites and purple gradients here. And that’s great. So let’s make our visual explanations stand out as well!

They say one image is worth 1000 words. But only the one that cuts to the bone of phenomena and explains it in seconds. 

Alternative NiftyComedians website:

Real NiftyComedians website

***

As most of our peers are excited about web3, it’s easy to forget where this excitement comes from. And it typically comes from understanding certain things.

You won’t value Bitcoin until you see the FED’s money printing and authoritarian governments seizing the citizens’ money.

You won’t value decentralization until you understand that relying on Big Tech APIs is risky, and you can end like Zynga.

You won’t also value Zapper until you try to track your DeFi portfolio with Spreadsheets and Etherscan.

Every product has prior experiences or knowledge that’s mandatory to really appreciate its value. That’s why crypto is so popular in African countries where people are unbanked and don’t have cheap and easy access to USD.

So think about 1-3 key things your users need to understand to appreciate the value of your product. And educate them – sometimes via your landing page, sometimes via Docs and FAQ

Alternative universe IPFS website where they don’t pull any knowledge levers:

Real IPFS website that educates their users:

“Add more screenshots” is the most common Landing Page feedback I’ve seen.

Our users also prefer to see the product in action. So show your screens and gifs!

Alternative Zapper website where they don’t show their product:

Real Zapper website where you can see the product in action:

Many web3 founders aspire to Uniswap’s cleanness and simplicity. But most products must highlight more features to grab the user’s attention. 

That’s because most users have a mental product checklist in their minds.

Is it safe? Can I connect my wallet? Does it integrate with my favorite dapp? Can I do this thing? And what about that thing? And what if this terrible thing happens?

Different user segments might have a different mental checklist – your mom might be less interested in hash functions than Vitalik. But it’s still there in some form.

So it’s important to understand what questions your users are asking (best way: by talking to them) and smuggle the answers in your website’s copy. Then you can expand your answers in Docs & FAQ.

Alternative NFTfi website would have a decent but limited description of the product:

Real NFTfi website shows many sides of their product:

Web3 builders community is supportive. But sometimes, it means they don’t share objections to your product. So it’s easy to forget that users have their doubts.

And your users are going to have objections. Especially since you’re operating in a space that’s full of scams. So you need to ask users about their concerns, think through all “What could go wrong,” prepare your arguments and elegantly add them to your copy.

Alternative Dune website ignores most users’ concerns:

Real Dune website is addressing potential users’ concerns:

Your users start with different experiences, expectations & beliefs about your category of products.

They might think that DEXes are not safe. That crypto accounting software is unreliable. Or that NFT swaps are scams for stealing Bored Apes.

So opinions you share on the website shouldn’t just be generic “Cool product, highly recommended”. They should address your users’ objections. 

Alternative Gilded website shows a shallow opinion from an unknown company:

Real Gilded website is focused on deep opinions from reputable companies:

Most crypto builders hang out in Telegram chats, Discord channels & conferences. And we basically know which products are leaders in their category. But many users don’t. That’s why you should use Sinatra tests.

It’s a copywriting idea inspired by Sinatra’s song “New York, New York,” where he sings, “If you can make it here, you can make it everywhere.”

So you need to show examples that will show that “If you made it there, you can make it everywhere”

An example from my life:

My friend told me her mom worked as a cleaning lady. And she added, “But you know, not a normal cleaning lady. She was like a manager of other cleaning ladies.”.

A few years later, I learned what kind of a manager she was. It turned out she worked at Marriott as a staff manager. And she was known for organizing things perfectly, so when Bill Clinton stayed at their hotel, she got a written “Thank you” note from the president of the United States.

So if “She could make it during Bill Clinton’s stay, she can make it everywhere.”

Your web3 product might also have stories or facts like that. It can be a referral from Vitalik. Or providing infrastructure for OpenSea. Or being a #1 choice for some great niche zk-proof researchers.

Alternative Wintermute website is not using Sinatra tests to highlight their market position:

Real Wintermute website shows raw, powerful numbers

Web3 is a very collaborative space, and we sometimes feel bad comparing our products to a competition being run by our friends. But our user still needs to understand why they should use your product and not the other thing.

DeFi degens may prefer a platform with the highest yield, even when it means bigger risks.
Newcomers may prefer the biggest DEX, even if it means fewer features than the specialized ones.
Sophisticated NFT collectors may prefer a more niche marketplace, even when it means higher costs.

Alternative ZenGo website is describing their wallet without highlighting what makes it different:

Real ZenGo website compares the product with other wallets:

Your product can surf trend waves. Sometimes the wave can take you really far, just like dissatisfaction with financial systems gave extra speed to Bitcoin.

So – although it’s being overused – it’s sometimes useful to relate to “creator economy”, “ReFi” or “open protocols” on your website.

Alternative Moss Earth website isn’t too exciting:

Real Moss Earth website shows how they are part of something bigger:

Most crypto products do it, but I’m going to mention it anyway.

Your product needs to say something positive about the user. Just like using a Tesla tells “You care about the environment” or using an iPhone tells “You’re trendy and doing well financially.”

In the web3 example, your users might feel like a patron when they’re buying an NFT directly from the artist (see: the NiftyComedians example we shared before). Or they will feel like a good person when they’re offsetting their carbon footprint via Moss Earth. Or they will feel like the smartest kid in the block when they’re maximizing yield.

Alternative Code4rena website is okay but it doesn’t make me feel supersmart:

Real Code4rena website shows that by using their product, I get into “If You Know You Know” club:

I think airdrops made us all lazy. As users expected to get them, they were more eager to cross the chasm and try new services. 

But in the bear market, there are fewer people out there. And they are more hesitant to try new stuff as most airdrops will be worthless. So we got to do something to move our users from their mental couch.

We need to give them a little push. Show the number of NFTs already minted. Show that they can book the cool username on a new web3 social platform. Present how their competitors or other people are already using you. 

Alternative PoolTogether website doesn’t induce FOMO:

Real PoolTogether website gives me an extra push to try it out:

***

So after 5 rules, 19 protips & 40 examples, we’re almost done. 

Creating a good copy sometimes feels like solving a multi-variable maths equation. It takes time, and you'll probably need to rewrite your material multiple times before it's good enough.

But it is worth it because - as someone smart once said - 'copywriting is sales at scale'. Every time someone goes to your website, they will read the story your share. The better the story, the higher the chances they will convert. Every single time.

Of course, it’s just one part of the equation. Communication makes a promise that a product should fulfill. So please don't use this guide to overpromise and underdeliver :)

So good luck!

BTW if you liked this post, you can subscribe to my newsletter here:

PS:

This article stands on the shoulders of giants. 

The 5 rules have been heavily inspired by Peep Laja’s insights on messaging. Landing Page protips have been inspired by YourLandingPageSucks.com, & MarketingExamples Landing Page guide.  

Also, Thanks to 0xElle, sterlingb.eth & other members of the Farcaster fam for the feedback!