Why cross-chain access is the key to building crypto communities that last

A crypto project is nothing without its crypto community. That much is obvious. What’s less obvious is how to go about building a community that is sufficiently large, engaged, and incentivized to stick around for the long haul. Because it doesn’t matter how clever the tech is or how significant the problem it solves, without users – real, organic users – onboard, it’s destined to fail.

Thanks to tokenization and points programs, it’s significantly easier to bootstrap a crypto startup than it is to launch a web2 app. But building a protocol with real stickiness to ensure user retention is a lot harder. At the current stage in blockchain’s lifespan, however, this much can be said for certain: the projects that go the distance will invariably be the ones that tap into multiple cross-chain ecosystems simultaneously. It’s not the only requirement, but it’s undoubtedly one of the most important.

Being able to reach users across the omnichain landscape is the key to reaching critical mass and then sustaining that momentum. And it all starts with the token generation event (TGE), a narrow window of opportunity in which to capture attention. For this reason, astute web3 projects are transitioning from making “cross-chain” a distant roadmap target to a core component that’s built in from day one.

The rapid expansion of the blockchain landscape, which now extends to hundreds of networks and thousands of protocols, is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it means there’s now a chain for everything, each optimized for a specific use case, from RWAs to gaming. The downside, of course, is that this fragmentation has resulted in massive user dispersion, making it hard for new projects to know where to launch and how to build a community that won’t evaporate when the next alluring opportunity surfaces.

While points programs – typically with the hint of an airdrop further down the line – are effective at stimulating adoption, they’re a band-aid at best that does little to sustain long-term growth. Which is why there’s now a growing trend for targeting valuable demographics across all blockchains from the get-go.

Instead of Solana or Ethereum, why not both? Instead of DeFi blockchain A, B, or C, why not all three? While reaching multiple blockchain ecosystems simultaneously does not automatically build communities, by maximizing the total addressable market, it significantly increases the prospects of building a community that’s capable of carrying a project from zero to one. To achieve this, shrewd web3 startups now favor a cross-chain strategy from the moment their token goes live via specialist launchpads such as Calyx.

Though by no means the only launchpad adopting the omnichain approach, Calyx embodies the mindset that’s now popularised with its promise that projects can “Launch once. Reach every chain.” Created by Aurora and powered by NEAR Intents, the launchpad enables seamless token launches across 19 major ecosystems including Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, Base, Near, XRP, Optimism, Avalanche, and Arbitrum.

Such an approach eliminates the need for users to bridge or swap assets, allowing participation with just one transaction using the tokens they already hold. This not only broadens fundraising potential but fosters organic growth by reducing entry barriers, enabling communities to form across chains without friction. By supporting such a wide array of networks, launchpads such as Calyx help projects tap into a diverse user base instantly, turning fragmented ecosystems into a single unified market.

Choosing to go cross-chain is a no-brainer for projects harboring serious ambition, but it’s merely the foundation for successful community building – not the endgame. From there, the imperative is to capitalize on this attention by transforming new users into longstanding community members. And this is where projects must get creative by engineering positive feedback loops that will supply that all-important “stickiness.”

That is a wrap!