Kieran Warwick, the founder of GameFi project Illuvium — valued at just under $900 million as of April 1, according to public metrics — sat down with Cointelegraph to discuss what he views as challenges to the industry — and possible highlights of the year ahead.
Here’s what he had to tell us.
1) What is the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?
The biggest challenge we face is user experience. It’s getting much better, but purchasing crypto and participating in things like staking, lending, borrowing and governance is still daunting. This is why we see such crazy inflows to meme coins. There are no complicated white papers. The big ones are on centralized exchanges. The narratives are straightforward, and the technical barriers are low.
2) From decentralized applications (dApps) to nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi), we have seen many “killer apps” for crypto, but none have really taken off yet. What will stick?
Kieran Warwick celebrating his engagement to his now-wife, Bianca Jane Warwick.
I’m obviously biased, but I truly believe gaming will get true mainstream adoption. It’s easy for people to understand, and the introduction of non-custodial wallet solutions like IMX passport means players can create an account in a few clicks and start playing games like they normally would, except these games will give users true ownership of their assets, and this will lead to further exploration into NFT marketplaces, DeFi applications, and the broader crypto ecosystem.
3) What has been the toughest challenge you’ve faced in our industry so far?
The hardest thing for me is adjusting to the gradual pace of mainstream adoption. My impatience often kicks in when I observe the slow acceptance of what appears to be clear and beneficial innovation, and it’s frustrating when others fail to see the same potential.
Also, the expectation for constant transparency in our field creates a double-edged sword. While it…
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