The best way to understand cryptocurrency is to recognize that most of it isn't currency. Currency is a medium of exchange, and for something to be a medium of exchange, things must be priced in it. What is priced in Bitcoin?

Stablecoins could be currency, but that's only because they are privately created proxies for the fiat with respect to which they are stable. (So were banknotes before JP Morgan got tired of bailing out the banks.) In that regard, owning a stablecoin is like buying a pre-paid VISA card. Would you notice if your VISA receipt said "By signing this receipt, you agree to purchase $X of VISACOIN, which we will transfer to your merchant in full discharge of your obligation."? The only difference between that and what really happens is the manner in which the transaction is recorded. The merchant charged you in fiat, and you paid in fiat. What goes on under the hood is not really your concern.

Is the blockchain here to stay? Maybe. I suspect we will figure out that it violates the law of diminishing returns, spending too many resources to replace the combination of trust plus insurance in most transactions. The Fed may any day announce that three trillion (for now) dollars of market value created in exchange for nothing is distorting the pricing of everything.

To me, bitcoin is a science project run amok, a virus that has escaped the lab. The blockchain may have some utility for society, but we will eventually decide that bitcoin is used more for bad than good.