Analogies to Explain Blockchain Products: The Follow-Up Test

An analogy helps explain a blockchain product when it makes one property instantly clear and the listener's next question doesn't break it. It misleads when the familiar thing carries assumptions your product doesn't share, like insurance, a company in charge, or a way to reverse mistakes. Before using one with a journalist, run it through four follow-up questions: who's in control, what happens when it goes wrong, why not just use the familiar thing, and is it regulated like that thing. Keep analogies that survive at least three.

I prep founders for interviews, and analogies are where most of them get caught. Not in the first answer, where the analogy sounds great, but in the second, when the reporter takes it seriously and asks about it.

Why do crypto founders reach for analogies?

Because the plain description is long and the analogy is short. "It's like a bank account you fully control" lands in five seconds. The accurate version takes a paragraph. Under interview pressure, five seconds wins.

Analogies are also how most people already think about crypto. I did it myself, years ago, when I wanted wallets to be as easy as the payment app on my phone:

Paying in #crypto is so much easier than doing bank transfers Can't wait for the day when #DeFi wallets will be used like Google pay Shilika Jain on X, 9 Jan 2022

Notice what kind of analogy that is. It's aspirational. It says what a DeFi wallet should feel like, not what it is. That's a fair use. The trouble starts when founders use an aspirational analogy as a description, and a journalist checks it against reality.

When does an analogy help?

An analogy earns its place when three things are true:

• It explains one property, not the whole product. "A smart contract works like a vending machine" explains automatic execution. It isn't trying to explain gas, audits and upgradability at the same time.
• The listener already understands the familiar thing well. A vending machine works. "It's like a clearing house" doesn't, because most readers don't know what a clearing house does either.
• The difference is harmless or can be said in one breath. "Like a vending machine, except anyone can inspect the machine's code" is fine. The exception adds information rather than undoing the analogy.

Storytelling is a skill, and choosing the right comparison is part of it:

Storytelling is a dead-killer skill you must have irrespective of working in crypto or not! Shilika Jain on X, 22 Dec 2022

But an analogy is a shortcut inside a story. It isn't the story. If the analogy is doing all the explaining, the plain explanation probably isn't ready yet. My three-pass rewrite method is the step to do first.

When does an analogy mislead?

When the familiar thing comes bundled with protections or structures your product doesn't have. The reader imports them automatically. Then they feel misled when they find out, and so does the journalist who repeated the analogy in print.

The common crypto failures follow a pattern. Bank analogies import deposit protection and a customer service line. Savings analogies import low risk. Password analogies import a reset link. Company analogies import someone accountable. Each of those is exactly what self-custody and decentralised products often don't offer.

What is the follow-up test for an analogy?

Picture a business reporter who has just heard your analogy and wants to write it down. Before they do, they'll ask at least one follow-up. These are the four I run every analogy through in media prep:

1. The control question. "So who's in charge of it, then?" If the familiar thing has an operator (a bank, a platform, a landlord) and your product doesn't, the analogy breaks here.
2. The failure question. "What happens if something goes wrong?" Familiar things usually have recourse: chargebacks, insurance, a helpline, a court. If yours doesn't, say so before they find out.
3. The redundancy question. "Then why wouldn't I just use the normal one?" If the analogy makes your product sound identical to the familiar thing, it removes your reason to exist.
4. The rules question. "Is it regulated like that?" Comparing a product to a regulated one can imply protections, and sometimes legal status, you don't have.

Score one point for each question the analogy survives without you needing to walk it back.

The "state the limit yourself" step matters most. A founder who says "it's like a bank account, except there's no bank, so nobody can freeze it and nobody can recover it for you" has turned the weak spot into the point. The reporter doesn't need to catch you, because you've told them.

How do common blockchain analogies score?

These are the analogies I hear most in pitches and interview prep. Scores are my judgement from the four questions, and yours may differ depending on the product.

Two patterns jump out. The analogies that score worst are the ones that import financial safety nets: bank, password reset, savings account. And the ones that score best describe a mechanism (automatic rules, a per-send fee) rather than a relationship with an institution.

That's why I steer founders of self-custody products away from bank comparisons altogether. When I wrote my Tangem marketing teardown, the suggestion was to sell ownership rather than hardware. Ownership is a framing that holds under every follow-up question, because it's literally what the product does.

How do you build an analogy that survives?

If your current analogy scores two or less, rebuild it with this sequence:

1. Name the one property you want the listener to grasp. Just one: automatic, public, owned, cheap, fast.
2. List three familiar things with that property. Push past the obvious first choice.
3. Run each through the four questions. Keep the highest scorer.
4. Write the built-in exception. One clause starting with "except" that names the main difference.
5. Test it aloud on someone outside crypto. Then ask them the four follow-ups and see whether they can answer for you.

Step four is what separates a prepared founder from an improvised one. It also protects you over time. Coverage gets quoted, screenshotted and cited for years. A misleading line keeps circulating long after the product has changed.

Your honesty might make you lose a client but will bring you a credible reputation forever Shilika Jain on X, 4 Apr 2022

The same applies to analogies. The honest version may sound less exciting in the moment. It won't come back to hurt you.

When should you skip the analogy entirely?

Sometimes the best analogy is none at all.

• Trade press on a technical beat. A reporter covering infrastructure for a crypto outlet knows what a rollup is. An analogy can read as condescending or as a sign you're avoiding specifics.
• Crisis and incident communications. After an exploit or outage, analogies can sound like minimising. Say exactly what happened, in plain terms.
• Anything about returns, yield or safety. Comparisons to savings, insurance or guarantees can create expectations, and in some markets legal exposure, that your product can't meet. Describe the mechanism and the risk directly.
• When the plain sentence is already short. If you can say it in twelve clear words, the analogy adds length, not clarity.

Analogy prep is part of how I get founders ready for interviews, alongside talking points and the hard questions they'd rather not get. If you want the full process, my guide to crypto founder media training covers it, and it's built into my founder profiling work.

FAQ

Is it ever fine to use a bank analogy for a crypto wallet?

Only with the exception stated in the same sentence. "Like a bank account with no bank" can work because the exception is the point. On its own, a bank comparison implies protections and recovery that most self-custody wallets don't offer.

Should analogies go in press releases?

Rarely. A press release is a written record that reporters quote and paraphrase, so a weak analogy gets copied into coverage. Put the plain description in the release and save analogies for live conversation, where you can add the exception.

What if a journalist uses a bad analogy for my product?

Correct it gently and offer a better one in the same reply. Reporters generally prefer accuracy, and giving them a stronger comparison is more useful than simply saying "it's not like that." If it's already published, a polite note with the correction is fair.

How many analogies should a founder prepare before an interview?

One per core property you expect to explain, usually two or three. Each should already have its exception written down. More than that and founders start mixing them, which confuses the listener faster than having none.

Got an interview coming up and an analogy you're not sure about? Book a 30-minute prep session and we'll pressure-test it.