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Crypto users can abandon an app at several points: account creation, identity checks, wallet setup, funding, or the first transaction. There is no well-established current cross-platform abandonment rate or single proven cause. For product teams, the practical response is to measure each step, explain its purpose, and remove avoidable effort without weakening required compliance or security controls.
Where crypto onboarding friction happens
Onboarding is a sequence, not a single sign-up screen. A user may understand the app but leave when a later requirement feels unexpected, slow, or hard to complete. Track each stage separately so a low overall completion rate does not obscure the point where people get stuck.
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- Account creation and initial information
- Identity verification and any resulting review or wait
- Wallet selection, setup, and recovery choices
- Payment access and account funding
- First transaction and the explanations needed to use the service confidently
Account creation
Asking for many details before explaining what the service does can make the first step feel costly. Stripe recommends keeping entry simple while recognizing that risk checks may still require information. The right fields and timing depend on the product and applicable rules; a shorter form is not automatically an appropriate or lawful flow. Stripe’s crypto onboarding guide discusses these design choices.
Identity verification
Document capture, unclear photo requirements, retries, and waiting for a decision can interrupt a user who expected to buy or transfer quickly. Users may ask why identity verification is necessary or why it is taking so long. Explain what information is required, why it is requested, what happens next, and how to recover if a check fails.
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There is no universal rule that verification should happen either at registration or only when a user tries a particular action. Stripe describes both front-loaded checks and checks triggered by intended activity as possible approaches. A team must assess its jurisdiction, product model, financial-crime and fraud exposure, and risk tolerance before changing verification gates; this is not blanket permission to defer required checks. Stripe’s guide outlines the trade-off.
Compliance messages and waits
An unexplained delay can feel like an error. In guidance on UK cryptoasset financial promotions, the FCA says firms should explain cooling-off periods early and make choices clear and neutrally worded. It also says: “Good practice would be to clearly explain fees that could impact the decision of whether to proceed at the end of the cooling-off period.” This guidance applies to its UK promotion context, not as a universal rule for every crypto app. Read the FCA’s guidance.
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Wallet and recovery concepts
Someone new to crypto may not know why a wallet is needed, who controls it, or what happens if access is lost. Introducing custody and recovery choices without a plain-language explanation can turn setup into a point of hesitation. Stripe identifies wallet setup as a typical stage of onboarding. Its guide describes the broader journey.
Exodus’s SEC filing describes an embedded passkey wallet flow that avoids a separate wallet installation and a written seed phrase in the flow it discusses. That is an issuer’s description of its product mechanics, not independent evidence that embedded wallets improve conversion or are safer in every threat model. See the Exodus filing.
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Repeated identity checks
People using several exchanges or on-ramps may be asked to submit identity information repeatedly. Identity provider Sumsub describes repeated KYC as a friction and privacy issue. Treat that as a vendor’s perspective, not an independent measurement of how often repetition causes users to leave. Sumsub discusses reusable KYC.
What the published figures do—and do not—show
Available figures can provide context, but they are not a current universal benchmark for app abandonment.
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| Finding | Scope and limitation |
|---|---|
| Average onboarding time of 1 minute 53 seconds, 11 screens, and seven fields | Incognia’s 2022 announcement reports averages across 14 exchanges and five wallet apps it reviewed. This is a historical sample, not a measure of today’s market or a causal explanation for abandonment. Incognia’s announcement. |
| 73% of UK cryptoasset users obtained cryptoassets through a centralized exchange in 2025, four percentage points more than in 2024 | Financial Conduct Authority survey finding about channel use, not the share of users who abandon an app. The survey used an online YouGov panel; consult the methodology before generalizing. Fieldwork included 2,353 people in phase one and a phase-two boost of 1,053 people who own or previously owned cryptoassets. FCA survey and methodology. |
These sources do not establish a robust current cross-platform abandonment rate or a causal ranking of onboarding fixes. Incognia’s founder and CEO, André Ferraz, said in its 2022 announcement: “Stronger identity verification and authentication processes are needed on crypto apps to protect users’ financial investments. It shouldn’t be a choice between friction or fraud.” That is a vendor executive’s view, rather than a neutral regulatory finding.
How to reduce avoidable friction without compromising controls
- Map the complete journey. Follow the path from app install or landing page through the first successful transaction. Record completion at each stage, elapsed time, retries, failure reasons, support contacts, and abandonment. The FCA recommends capturing onboarding frictions in real time and using the data for continuing improvements. FCA guidance.
- Request information when it is needed. Ask for the minimum appropriate information at each point, after confirming legal obligations and risk requirements for the relevant jurisdiction and action. Tiered or later verification may be a design option, not permission to bypass an applicable requirement. Stripe’s guide discusses verification timing.
- Explain sensitive requests and delays. Tell users why a field or document is needed, how long a check is expected to take, what a failed check means, and where to get help. Where a cooling-off period applies in the FCA’s UK promotion context, explain it at the start and present options clearly. FCA guidance.
- Make document capture recoverable. State which documents are accepted, give practical camera guidance, preserve progress where possible, and make the next step after a failed attempt actionable. These are product-design recommendations; the sources cited here do not quantify their individual effects in a current independent controlled trial.
- Introduce wallet concepts at the point of need. Explain custody and recovery in ordinary language before asking users to make consequential choices. Test embedded or passkey wallet options only where they fit the product’s supported devices, recovery design, and threat model. Exodus’s filing describes a particular implementation, not comparative outcomes. Exodus filing.
- Judge experiments on more than completion. Track time to first value alongside verification quality, fraud, account takeover, support load, and user comprehension. A change that improves sign-up completion but degrades security or leaves users confused is not an unqualified improvement.
How to compare onboarding choices
There is no single best verification or wallet pattern for every crypto product. Compare options against the product’s legal duties and operating risks, not just the number of screens.
| Decision | Factors to compare |
|---|---|
| Verification at registration or when a user attempts a regulated or higher-risk action | Jurisdiction-specific legal requirements; fraud and financial-crime exposure; user comprehension; completion; time to first value; manual-review burden; privacy exposure; and support volume. |
| Hosted wallet or embedded/passkey wallet | Setup steps; custody and recovery; platform dependence; supported devices; and security model. |
Use the resulting measurements to locate a specific bottleneck, then test a change against both user outcomes and control quality. Do not treat a historical app sample or one provider’s product description as proof that a particular design will work for your users.
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