Its really a reflection on the doomed state of the mainstream crypto mindset to only really care about getting rich quick in fiat off cryptocurrency bubbles. Bitcoin doesn't matter as a currency, it matters as a pyramid scheme. The people investing in it for personal financial gain dramatically outpace those trying to use it to overthrow fiat hegemony.
There have been coins like peercoin and Steem that have in small regards or parts tried to push the adoption envelope as a usable exchange medium over the pyramid scheme, but they are few and far between and their general unpopularity really shines a light on where the scenes true values lie.
What's the opportunity cost of adopting a completely new payment system versus losing 6 cents on an already very expensive transaction?
We're getting there, but we're doing it in the mainstream space, not the cryptocurrency space. Within and between an increasing number of countries and groups of countries, this is becoming possible.
But between banks, not with distributed wastes of power like Bitcoin.
Ever had a free email account compromised? Good luck. Not to mention email isn't free. Someone is paying for it and making money from it. Even if that is concealed behind several layers that aren't obvious to most users.
Since Bitcoin was always leading the charts, in my opinion the whole market had to crash, and out of that it will show which ones offer true value.
You shoudn't focus too much on price, but mainly focus on applicability and adoption/use.
Most doctors here only offered cash payments, but nowadays a lot of them offer smartphone payments. They lose 6 cent on every transaction.
Imagine a world where I can pay instantly, worldwide with a single currency, 0 fees. The technology is already here, the adoption not (yet ;).
We have email, which is basically instant, free and worldwide. Why can't we have the same for payments? Only time will tell if such a major shift can happen.