1) Monero is going to be bigger than it is now. Not just because of its "anonymous" feature, but also because of its inflation, which is already lower than Litecoin and eventually will be lower than Bitcoins...
There is no way of global adoption, this is the aim of every cryptocurrency - if you are fine with Monero being niche coin it is ok.
Just don't expect it to get bigger without being suppressed by authorities first.
Every currency suppose to investigated by financial authority to prevent any black market or money laundering activities.
Even bitcoin now has been questioned by government about whose used it in order avoid taxes.
Monero had grown more than 2000% last year and keep increasing, but wait until it facing many problems as bitcoin did.
But, we can expect that an alternative altcoin will overcome obstacles and pass through government regulations, just so hard to determine which one of many options.
One altcoin's life is usually till another altcoin will be introduced. After 2013, we have seen these many times. Altcoins will come and go, they are just applications. But bitcoin will stay with us all the times because it is a money.