Then the end game would be to be something useful that people use in their daily lives.

I think that's what was meant when calling it digital currency.

But now it's heading down a different path.

Having a savings account is not useful in daily life?

Cryptocurrencies look to be a particularly bad substitute for a savings account to me. Or even just keeping cash in a shoebox under your bed.

A savings account is generally a no-risk or low-risk investment vehicle. This usually means that you could withdraw the balance on any given day and not suffer a realized loss. Even if you assume that Bitcoin's value will always recover long-term, having short term volatility in the 50% range might mean that the money in a Bitcoin "savings account" will not be available when you actually need it.

Don't you keep it in cold storage so three generations from now you offspring can bring it back out for significant wealth gains or alternatively a reminder of funny things humans do?

Why crypto v dollars or another existing currency?

There is no real benefit besides instant* cross border settlement.

On the one hand, I can understand this. On the other: as a US citizen, I use it in my daily life, then I file an 8949 every year listing every single purchase I made that year, along with tracking of cost bases? I realize that this is a legal, rather than fundamental, aspect of cryptocurrency, but it does make the idea of using cryptocurrency as a quotidian currency rather frustrating compared to essentially any other method, like cash or a credit card.

No need to. Luckily every transaction has been recorded for you on a public blockchain that is easily traceable to your RL identity! Makes life a lot easier for the IRS and also means your employer can check whethee you've developed a penchant for donkey porn!

That fact that they can find it out doesn't mean you don't have to report it accurately. Most countries around the world know how much salaried employees make and still require them to declare it in a yearly tax submission and if they do it wrong, they'll get fined. The government knowing has nothing to do with you still needing to accurately report it.

I don’t know if “most countries” is correct. The USA certainly does this, but most European countries will prepare an automatic tax return for everyone based on the data they receive from employers, banks and brokerages.

Hold my beer I'll build a tool to track that