Speaking of decentralized (but not private), I recently learned about some EOS 'coin'... Brock Pierce states he's raised multiple billions to deliver a high speed ETH competitor...

I find everything about it hard to believe (I own no EOS), but I'm watching it with much curiosity

I'm not surprised he's raised millions. (1) One of the best/easiest/most guaranteed places to make money is by investing in money/stocks/etc. ("You have to have money to make money") And (2) Actually, startup funders have a surprising amount of cash and they'll throw it on any horse that looks to win the race. From a civilian and from a startuper's perspective, gaining startup funding is like winning the lottery but from the other side of the table, really, it's just another investment, and they are looking to secure a healthy profit.

IMO I feel that the crypotcurrency market reached its saturation point a long time ago and that while technological advances are nice and new competitors are always healthy, the winners of this game have been determined a long time ago and will remain so as there continue to be new cryptocurrencies to the point of super-saturation.