#WalletConnect
I have been thinking about how to make the story of Web3 payments more appealing, especially to friends outside the circle. When you talk to them about decentralization and private keys, they just think, 'What does that have to do with me?' But recently, the collaboration between @WalletConnect and Shopify provided an inspiring case.
I observed that the cleverness of this collaboration lies in the fact that it didn't create a new demand, but rather solved an old problem in the real world: payment friction.
In the past, wanting to buy something with cryptocurrency involved a very discouraging process: buying coins on an exchange - withdrawing coins to a wallet (choose the right chain, don’t get the address wrong) - connecting wallet to DApp - authorizing - making a payment.
Each step was a point of dropout.
But now, in some Shopify stores, you can directly scan with WalletConnect and pay with USDC on the Base chain. This experience is already infinitely close to the scan-to-pay method we are familiar with. In simple terms, it has packaged the complex technical backend of Web3 into a smooth experience that users hardly sense. This is not just a simple technical integration; it feels more like an infiltration of 'user mentality.' It has transformed crypto payments from a 'skill' that requires learning into a 'function' that can be used mindlessly.
From the perspective of content creation, the value of this story lies in its ability to bring the grand narrative of Web3 into specific life scenarios. It is no longer about 'disrupting finance,' but rather about 'can I buy a cup of coffee or a T-shirt with the USDC in my wallet?' This shift from speculation (trading coins) to practicality (spending coins) is precisely a key step toward the industry's maturity.
What’s even more interesting is that WalletConnect's ambitions go beyond this. I noticed that they recently launched the $WCT token, engaged in community-building, and airdropped various active users. The intention is clear: they don't just want to be a payment middleware; they want to become a community-owned, ubiquitous Web3 connection standard. Shopify is merely a beachhead for them to enter the mainstream world.
When infrastructure begins to become 'invisible,' innovation at the application layer will truly explode. What will the next bottleneck be? When 'buying things with cryptocurrency' is no longer news, what new stories will we encounter? That feels like the most interesting part.