Four panel discussions hosted by ChangeNOW during TOKEN2049 Singapore examined pathways for crypto products to attract and retain a broader user base. Speakers from MetaMask, Trezor, WalletConnect, Rubic, Pulsar Money and other firms focused on practical barriers that currently limit everyday use of digital assets.

The conference took place on October 7 and 8 at Marina Bay Sands. ChangeNOW organized the sessions around the question of what would give users a consistent reason to open a crypto application, moving past the intermittent activity typical of token swaps.

Payments as a Foundation for Super Apps

In the super app panel, Rubic co-founder Aleksandra Korneva observed that many users of swap services lack a daily reason to return to an application. Pulsar Money CEO Alex Radu identified payments and trading as two possible anchors for platforms that combine multiple financial services.

Michelle Herman of CoinRoutes took a more cautious view on fully consolidated applications. She noted that specialized services continue to hold value and stressed the need to protect customer information while delivering reliable execution.

ChangeNOW Chief Strategy Officer Pauline Shangett addressed related themes in her keynote, titled “Next Billion Users Should Never Touch Blockchain.” Delivered on the Bit Digital Stage on October 7, the talk argued that users should not have to select blockchain networks, manage gas fees or switch between separate services to complete basic financial tasks. Shangett presented crypto super apps as a means of folding everyday activities into a single product that handles technical processes on the user’s behalf.

Simplifying Wallets and Transaction Flows

A separate panel examined how much of a transaction process an application should manage for users. Yana, ChangeNOW’s Head of Business Development and Account Management, identified gas requirements as a persistent source of friction in cross-chain swaps.

A MetaMask representative discussed the potential for AI agents to execute transactions. Trezor software product lead Denis described work on enabling hardware devices to approve actions initiated by such agents. He cautioned that a simpler interface should not conceal all details, stating that information must remain accessible when users require it.

The conversation centered on the tension between automation and user control. Participants noted that clear visibility into intended actions and the ability to review transaction details would remain necessary as automated services expand.

Infrastructure Requirements for Everyday Use

The infrastructure panel focused on the technical and collaborative foundations needed for practical payments. WalletConnect’s Diana Alexandrova stated that ordinary payments should not require specialized knowledge.

Aztec Labs pointed to privacy as a necessary condition for broader adoption, noting that businesses would be reluctant to process employee payments on a fully public ledger. Banxa called for cooperation among specialized infrastructure providers. RocketX described efforts to aggregate liquidity from multiple sources into a single interface.

These contributions framed an ecosystem approach in which connectivity, privacy protections and shared liquidity work together to lower barriers for non-technical users.

Reaching New Audiences in a Changing Discovery Environment

A final discussion considered how crypto products and related media would find users as artificial intelligence alters search behavior. Media participants described shifting investment toward interviews, podcasts and direct audience relationships as reliance on traditional search traffic declines.

CoinEasy offered a regional perspective, explaining that its Korean community and domestic search presence had so far limited exposure to these shifts. The company outlined additional steps that include use of AI tools, offline events and physical products to strengthen community ties.

Across the sessions, speakers returned to the practical steps required to move crypto beyond its existing trading-focused audience. Payments, simplified interfaces, privacy-aware infrastructure and new distribution methods formed the core elements under discussion.