Utility is hugely important , which is why we need to work to shed this image of cryptocurrencies as a super high risk exotic investing derivative that ambitious young developers use as a gateway to a lambo.
To be honest, that has ZERO appeal outside a very small and narrow niche of the population.
One of our greatest challenges — as I see it — comes from inside the crypto ecosystem, itself: In order for cryptos to gain traction as actual currencies they have to become utilitarian and stable, which is the exact opposite of what those harboring "Lambo dreams" would want. A token that doesn't swing more than possible +/-50% in a year is BORING to a large core segment of the crypotosphere whose lives revolve around the question "when Moon?"
So we need to move towards a place where the mindset shifts from the idea that you profit from the actual coins, and instead you profit from what you DO with the coins... the coins themselves stop being the income source; innovation in Dapps becomes the income source.
Hive as a "multi-faceted content platform where people get rewarded" is certainly a good start, but it has the fundamental weakness that that a great many of the market participants view it as simply a way to get some tokens they then exchange for fiat. And that doesn't add value, in terms of building the spread of cryptos.
For more than three years, I've been floating the idea that someone needs to create a peer-to-peer ecommerce front end here, in the style of eBay/Etsy/Craigslist in their earliest incarnations, before they "went corporate." We have a high speed blockchain with lots of capacity, virtually feeless secure instant transfers, an existing active community to jump start usage. It would be a great way to start people down the road of thinking in terms of "Here's my box of old Lego; I'm selling it for 50 Hive!" rather than "This is US $25, which translates to about 50 Hive."
And yes, I realize it's going to be a slow gradual process, but it strikes me such a Dapp is a ripe cherry ready for the picking, from someone with a bit of ambition and vision. And let's be patient... it has taken eBay almost 25 years to reach "cultural icon" status...
A sort of "template" has already been started in the form of the LeoShop which — however — is only electronic goods, so far. It wouldn't be a stretch to develop it further to include physical goods as well. Not sure if and crew are up for the challenge, but somebody ought to take this one on!
Sorry about the "blog length" post, but this is an important discussion!
RE: Cryptocurrency: Utility Is The Most Important Thing