That defeats the point. People keep forgetting that the single innovative aspect of cryptocurrencies was the invention of a way to do completely anonymous and trustless transactions. That's it. The second you wrap that in a layer that eliminates that, you're better off just skipping the blockchain altogether since it's an otherwise extremely awful performing persistence.
I'm not sure what makes you think that is the 'single innovative aspect' (besides, unless we're talking about Monero, most crypto transactions are not anonymous). One of the reasons I'm excited is for truly borderless transactions with friends and family overseas without every bank in the middle taking their (unknown ahead of time) cut. Even Wise incurs extra costs, as it doesn't support their native currency and USD/SWIFT is the only option. I'm absolutely sick of the unfairness built into the financial system and I get the feeling that much of the cynicism around crypto comes from a position of privilege.
Anyway, back to your point. Why should a layer on top 'eliminate' the layer underneath? Card companies did not eliminate cash.
> I'm not sure what makes you think that is the 'single innovative aspect'
Because that is the single innovative aspect of crypto: circumventing regulation (by virtue of not having a central authority). Every single other thing can be done better by a non-decentralised system.
> much of the cynicism around crypto comes from a position of privilege.
Boo-hoo. I would think that more rich people are circumventing capital controls in China, Korea, and Argentina using crypto than poor, unbanked people are using crypto.
You talk like cryptocurrencies are a valid alternative, even though they have a terrible UX that makes their adoption in the real world near non-existent. Hell, losing or getting your private keys stolen could also nuke your business. Yes, every option comes with its issues, and so far cryptocurrency's issues far exceed other options for businesses.
It will be a solution for everyone running a legal business (i.e. one that doesn't impose significant negative externalities on others). Making life harder for criminals is a feature not a bug.
As a business you'd have to pay taxes, deal with customer support, accept multiple currencies, etc, so even when accepting cryptocurrency payments it's likely you would use a payment processor. Those payment processors would probably be just as reliable as the fiat ones... (hell they'll probably be the same companies)
Remember, Stripe is not known to be reliable, just convenient. People will go for the convenience with cryptocurrency as well, there is no reason to believe otherwise.
