Epic thread! Congrats.
A decade later, we're still practically the same. Not a single use case for altcoins outside of creating more and more tokens, and DeFi, which is an even bigger scam than the usual CeFi.
Ethereum, for example, isn't just about creating more tokens - it's the backbone of decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts.
These innovations and facts are contradictory to your statement.
I am very aware of the innovations from these past years, but I still don't see a use case other than speculation. In my opinion, every experiment that talked about public goods, governance, etc. has completely failed. It's a problem of incentives; the corruption that these systems (not decentralized) allow occurs just like in any other area. There’s a crypto mantra of decentralization, equal opportunities, access for everyone, etc. The reality is that everyone is looking to gain their own immediate benefit without thinking about the long term.