Reown’s Jess Houlgrave: The Invisible Onchain Revolution You Never Saw Coming

Blockchain UX is finally ditching the training wheels—and Reown’s CEO is leading the charge. Jess Houlreve reveals how her startup is making crypto interactions vanish into the background, just like your bank’s accountability during a market crash.

Forget clunky wallets and gas fee panic attacks. Reown’s protocol cuts through the noise, bypassing the need for users to even know they’re onchain. Because let’s face it—most people just want the financial magic without the decentralized sermon.

From TradFi to DeFi: A Bridge Built on UX

Houlgrave’s journey into crypto wasn’t driven by speculation. Instead, she was drawn by the opportunity to rebuild financial systems in a way that’s more transparent, inclusive, and programmable. That vision is coming to life at Reown through features like Pay with Exchange, which allows users to pay directly from centralized exchanges like Coinbase or Binance—without leaving the checkout FLOW or inputting credentials.

“About 72% of crypto holders still keep funds on exchanges,” she notes. “This feature meets them where they are, and removes a lot of unnecessary friction.”

It’s a small example of a broader philosophy: usability shouldn’t be sacrificed in the name of innovation. Instead, true innovation means making powerful tools feel simple.

Building for humans, not developers

Crypto is full of innovative protocols, but if users can’t understand or trust them, adoption stalls. Houlgrave says the early Web3 era prioritized what was technically possible over what people actually needed.

“That’s normal in emerging tech,”

she says.

“But now we’re at a point where users expect better.”

At Reown, that shift means building for humans, not developers. Complex blockchain processes like gas management, signing messages, and bridging are abstracted behind smart infrastructure, ensuring users never face them directly.

One of Reown’s guiding mantras is less clicks. That principle is available across their product stack, from WalletKit to AppKit, which include features like One-Click Auth and Link-Mode. These tools enable seamless, secure interactions across apps and chains.

Another key development is Chain Abstraction. Integrated into WalletKit, this feature lets users spend stablecoins across different chains without manually bridging or switching networks. For example, someone holding USDC on Arbitrum can pay a merchant on Base. Reown handles the cross-chain transaction automatically—no network toggles, no confusing steps.

“It just works,”

Houlgrave says.

“That’s the future we’re building toward.”

UX and Innovation: Not a Trade-Off

One common misconception in the space is that prioritizing UX slows down innovation. Houlgrave strongly disagrees.

“It’s not a trade-off if you build with UX in mind from day one,”

she argues.

“The most innovative teams today are those rethinking the stack with usability as a Core design principle.”

In fact, she says, the feedback loop between usage and iteration is what drives scalable innovation. The more people use a tool, the more real-world data builders can collect and the better the next version becomes. Moreover, if users can get better privacy, more ownership, and smarter digital experiences without needing to know what chain they’re on, then Web3 wins.

“Mainstream users won’t say, ‘I used a blockchain app,’”

she says.

“They’ll say, ‘I bought this thing,’ or, ‘I joined that community.’ That’s how invisible the tech needs to feel.”

For developers in the space, Houlgrave has simple advice: build for people, not protocols. “Test your products with people who’ve never used a wallet,” she says. “That feedback will be ten times more valuable than another dev’s opinion.”

She adds that the industry’s next phase isn’t just about infrastructure, it’s about experience.

“We’re not just rebuilding the internet,”

she says.

“We’re rethinking ownership. That means we have a responsibility to make it usable for everyone.”

Final Thoughts

Jess Houlgrave isn’t just focused on making onchain easier, she’s rewiring the entire conversation. By centering users instead of just protocols, Reown is proving that the best innovation is the one people never have to think about.

If Web3 is ever going to hit the mainstream, it won’t be through more complexity. It’ll be through simplicity, trust, and experiences that feel as natural as anything on the web today.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.