sBTC UX Research -

Summary + Findings

June 2023

01

THE STORY SO FAR

• There are two main phases of �sBTC Research: �
• Phase 1 Research, Q1 2023 �Competitive research + informal discovery conversations
• institutional personas
• product owners & builders�
• Phase 2 Research, Q2 2023�Competitive research + structured UX interviews with 14 people interested in Bitcoin DeFi�
• Insights from Phase 1 were used to craft research questions and assumptions to test in Phase 2.

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PHASE 2

RESEARCH GOALS

• Identify potential persona groups, understand which group will drive the most adoption of sBTC.�
• Uncover how behavior varies across personas.�
• Uncover which use cases resonate with each persona/ user type.

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• Target Audiences: This research focused on Bitcoin holders and Web3 DeFi users.�
• Institutions and Developers are important target audiences. Since they were covered in Phase 1 of the research, it was determined that they were out of scope for Phase 2 of the research. Plans are to revisit these audiences in Q3.

PHASE 2

RECRUITING + INTERVIEW

Recruiting

• Bitcoin DeFi Screener, 100 responses�
• Emailed 30 people, interviewed 18.�
• Participants were compensated about $60 for their time.�

Interviews

• 60 mins, covering their background and one or two prototypes (sBTC bridge and Zest)

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Interview insights were aggregated and anonymized. Then summarized and shared with sBTC working group and Engineering Teams.

UX Interview - Key Takeaways

WHO DID WE TALK TO?

• 14 interviews, from a mix of regions.�
• Most of the participants had some general experience with DeFi. Four identified as bitcoiners and two seemed to be DeFi power users. Most used crypto as a hobby or side hustle.�
• Most had little or no experience actually using bridges to wrap their Bitcoin. Most people use DeFi applications, over bridges. �
• Bitcoin Mostly - 🧡🧡🧡🧡�DeFi Casual Users - 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜�DeFi Power Users - 🖤🖤�
• Countries - 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 � 🇩🇰🇩🇪🇩🇪🇨🇿 🇳🇬

Background + DeFi Experience

HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT BITCOIN?

• Regardless of the user, degen defi user or laser eye bitcoiner, everyone we spoke with holds Bitcoin in a special place in their portfolio. �
• Most people expressed an emotional connection to their BTC, more so than other coins, protocols or projects. Most people mentioned, regardless of their DeFi background, they have a higher bar when it comes to moving their bitcoin. �
• Another interesting and clear pattern, ordinals has reignited interest in "using" Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Experience + Quotes

“Bitcoin is the first crypto I’ve bought and never sold. “Out of respect” Bitcoin is a very philosophical idea, it’s more than money for me. It’s a message. Ethereum is where you can play around, it’s more like a playground.”

“I first learned about Bitcoin around 2020, lockdowns were concerning, I was on Twitter, and I saw people talking about “Freedom money” “Magic Internet Money” - that was it for me.

DEFI DECISION FACTORS

• When considering 1) Bitcoin first UX, 2) Financial Opportunity and 3) Trust/ Security Design, most people said that financial opportunity and security design were important factors in deciding to use a new DeFi product. A few mentioned the Bitcoin-First experience at all.�
• Social Proof and Good UX were the two most frequently mentioned decision factors when choosing a DeFi project.�
• When researching new protocols, users rely heavily on Twitter activity, check team background, and project backers. This is how they decide if they can trust a project. �
• The most mentioned DeFi applications were Uniswap, Binance, Compound and ALEX. Other projects mentioned include: Aave, Arkadiko, Curve, Pancake, Algorand, Cake, Compound, Lido, Terra, Cosmos, Lightning, 1inch, Avax, Cowswap, Trader Joes and Sovryn.

WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT USE CASES?

• We asked people about their unmet needs: answers varied, but the most mentioned answer was around lending/ borrowing (3), earning yield like BlockFi, staking. �
• There is a strong desire to use Bitcoin without taking counterparty risk. �
• No clear signal for use cases where “sBTC happens in the background” such Bitcoin DeFi applications or buying an Stacks NFT with BTC. More research is needed here.

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What do you want to do with your Bitcoin that you can’t do today?

WHO’S BUILDING WHAT?

WHAT USE CASES ARE BEING DEVELOPED IN STACKS ECOSYSTEM?

POSSIBLE PERSONAS

Most to Least DeFi Savvy

WORK IN PROGRESS, MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED

COMPETITIVE

LANDSCAPE

• Many teams are working on some version of decentralized-two-way-pegs for Bitcoin. �
• wBTC is the dominant player with over 90% of the TVL of Bitcoin in DeFi. For comparison��TVL (in BTC)���
• Most people use DeFi applications, over bridges. It is important to be specific about who is the target user for the sBTC bridge and what features they require? Same question for defi applications like�
• DEX, AMMs, Derivatives
• CDP
• Lending/ Borrowing Apps
• Liquid Staking

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WHAT NEXT?

• Late June - Share findings with community via Github�
• Late July - Research WG to have 1x1 meetings with product teams to go over new research areas�
• October - Conduct another round of user research post sBTC Mini with updated personas and research questions