The "killer app" for cryptocurrency is ransomware and malware.
Ransomware creators used to ask for payments with gift card codes or sketchy Western Union-style transfers. Cryptocurrency makes it MUCH easier for ransomware gangs to get paid.
This has led to a boom in ransomware attacks and the commoditization of ransomware into an entire industry [1][2]. There are entities that specialize in getting a foothold via exploits, contacting the victims to force payment, taking payments and laundering them, and providing paying victims with decryption tools.
Cryptocurrency has made ransomware a big business for criminal gangs and financially-strapped nefarious state actors (North Korea for example) [3].
I think ransomware was around before crypto, but crypto really blew it up. However, I think if crypto vanished, ransomware would still be as big of a problem if not worse. Without crypto, the risk of collecting ransoms increases and I imagine they would go up quite a bit and be harder to navigate in some ways.
That's not to say I don't agree with your take.
I think the second killer app for cryptocurrency these days are DeFi and NFTs, which are perceived by most to be high risk and vaporware.
Personally I love NFTs, but that's an aside. I can acknowledge that it's a territory that's full of scams.
That's not to say I don't agree with your take.
I think the second killer app for cryptocurrency these days are DeFi and NFTs, which are perceived by most to be high risk and vaporware.
Personally I love NFTs, but that's an aside. I can acknowledge that it's a territory that's full of scams.