to address several points made ...
1. Yes, Bitcoin is probably here to stay regardless of any Fiat cryptos that appear, but I think BTC is going to move into a role similar to gold. It's become a contrarian investment. It's price and volatility inhibit it's use as a general currency and one of the most important aspects to becoming a general currency - widespread acceptance- it has not made enough progress, so I think it is becoming an investment coin, not a currency coin.
@BartS: You mention bitcoin will win in the end. I suspect that when the fiat system collapses bitcoin will skyrocket, but only a handful of people have any significant amount (I saw a post that 98% of all BTC is held by a few hundred people), so while they will get rich, it won't change anything for the rest of us. Not sure if this constitutes a "win" for Bitcoin, but I'm pretty sure it's not a win for 99.9% of people
I agree that many countries are trying to experiment to bring their fiat into crypto and run with that. I also agree that it would get a lukewarm reception from the community at large and only newbies and uninformed would buy into it.
... something that governments would want to keep their eye on would be cities putting out their own crypto.
I agree with this, but it's also exactly what I was pointing out. How large is the crypto community? it's still a small percentage of the general population. newbies and the uninformed represent 99%. And considering the average 6 pack joe can barely balance his checkbook, I expect it to be that way for a long time, which mean what ever crypto the banks and gov't "Officially" endorse (and is easy for them to adopt) is the one they will use. That is the threat I was discussing. If that happens and a tethered fiat becomes accepted at every retail outlet and every six pzk joe uses it to buy his six pack, what does that do for the chances of an independent crypto to get established?
When the banks accept a fiat tethered crypto and give every retailer a way to accept those payments through their existing terminals, POS etc., they'll make sure those terminals do not take a competing crypto. This is how the banks usurp the threat of cryptos. It's simply a "beat them to the punch" approach.
I agree with the concepts that and independent crypto "Could" replace fiat and remove currency manipulation from the banks, but do you really think the banks are going to sit by and let that happen without a fight? Banning cryptos, as some have mentioned, is always a possiblity, but i think they are smart enough to know that would fail, this cat is already out of the box, a ban would probably just create a black market or some other contrary response.
Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. The smart move - for them - is to beat every one else to the punch and get their own crypto into widespread acceptance. And they are in a position to do it. Every retail stores has to have a merchant account to take credit and debit cards, so they are already customers directly or indirectly of the big banks.
I point this out in the hope that the crypto community will see the possible outcomes here and possibly craft a better alternative, but the clock is ticking. The banks are in catch up mode at the moment, but it won't take them long.