It’s been 15 years and nobody still uses cryptocurrency to pay for stuff. And as you say, that’s the point of money.
So maybe, just maybe crypto is actually not very good as money, which is why people have been increasingly desperate to invent new stories to keep someone paying real money for crypto (digital gold, NFTs, etc.)
Most people don't use cryptocurrency to pay for stuff, but back when I lived in Cambridge there was a nice pub where you could buy your pizza with it, and last week here in Berlin I passed a Subway[0] that let you pay for your sandwich in BTC. Or at least it said it did, BTC by itself is a terrible idea[1].
[1] And to shortcut the conversation: Alice: *something about payment layers*, Bob: *how payment layers destroy the one thing BTC actually does provide*
I paid for something with crypto just two days ago. I don't do many transactions with crypto, because most of the time it's easier to just use my cards, but on occasion it's handy.
Frankly, it works well, but it's not user-friendly for non-technical users still.
I would contend that being friendly for non-technical users is a necessary condition to consider it working well. It clearly works, nobody is saying it doesn't.
You are not addressing the point. There's a wold of difference between usable for something, and it being a good use case. You can go shopping in a monster truck, but that doesn't mean it's a good general use case for monster trucks in society.
So maybe, just maybe crypto is actually not very good as money, which is why people have been increasingly desperate to invent new stories to keep someone paying real money for crypto (digital gold, NFTs, etc.)