I struggle with the idea that "real money", even as crypto, needs to be centralized and easily tracked. It's not just about crime, it's about privacy. The federal reserve doesn't need to know the movements of every single individual. If I lend you $10, and you don't pay me back, it's both embarrassing for me and embarrassing for you, but we're good friends and this is just between us. Maybe you could provide that sort of anonymity on a relational database, but it doesn't have to be centralized. The blockchain tech gets faster and faster and not everyone has to be a full node, they could just run it at banks, maybe even with a bridge to other systems.

Anyway, I understand where people are coming from, blockchain was ruined by cryptobros and scammers. It's not an inherently evil idea, it may be inadequate in speed as compared to Visa, but the idea that I could take the middleman out of any business while still having common listings, and make it a conversation between a supplier and consumer is fundamentally good. We do not need Sabre or Expedia taking 15% of every hotel or airline booking. We do need Uber's secret pricing on rideshares. Very little value is added by middlemen in those transactions, where, in the end, the reputation of the provider is paramount- and yes, things can be set up so that provider can be vetted by third parties. The promise of blockchain is not NFTs, it's freedom to do business in a different way, and some of the limiting factors holding it back are the lack of clear regulations for the industry, and a trusted stablecoin network.