[0] https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/business/mastercard-visa-disc...
> We can argue about whether or not all of the opportunities are a good thing for society or not, but crypto does solve a problem for them.
Agreed. I'd argue that being able to buy drugs online is a great solution, but there are good arguments against it as well.
Crypto is also immune to confiscation of funds, due to whatever reasons (tax fraud investigation, whatever), this can also be argued whether it's a good thing or not. Many countries have banks and governments that most certainly can't be trusted.
The bottom line with crypto is what I would expect Americans in general to appreciate - freedom/choice.
(a) changed its policies radically within days, spurred by the threat of being dropped by credit card processors (thus demonstrating that they had no faith in cryptocurrency picking up nearly sufficient slack).
(b) those changes were almost universally considered to be for the better (a crackdown on non-consensual porn), so if cryptocurrency HAD succeeded in stepping in, it arguably would not have been a social good.
Echoing this, I'm involved in several more technical cryptocurrency groups, and there is little reference to the price, even today. Pretty much all of the discussion is around the technology itself, and what it can do.