Cryptocurrency as Currency

Bitcoin was heralded as the future of money, yet its everyday use as currency remains negligible: only 0.2% of transactions are for goods and services, according to Chainalysis, while average transaction fees peaked at $62 during the 2021 bull run. This volatility and cost make it impractical for buying coffee, unlike Visa's network which processes 1,700 transactions per second at near-zero cost. Even with the Lightning Network, adoption struggles with user friction and liquidity constraints, falling short of the frictionless peer-to-peer cash vision. As a store of value, it outperforms #5's modest speed gains by offering 60% annualized returns over five years—but as a currency, it fails a basic usability test.