Staying ahead of - or keeping pace with - inflation is actually a primary purpose of investments and why many people invest in stable bond and money market funds.

Until the creation of the Fed and the destruction of gold money holding your money was how you maintained value. Investing was to grow your wealth. We are now forced to invest to maintain value and for most it is a losing proposition. If your investments cant beat inflation every year you are losing value.

By saying that investment is how you maintain value you are saying that the dollar is a bad store of value. Stability, which USD doesn't have, is a property of good money.

None of that changes what crypto is. Another property of good money is performing transactions in a few seconds and being accepted by local markets for goods and services.