I'm confident that there is significant real value to be gained from blockchain technology but at least 99% of projects today are just empty buzzwords. Most wealthy people in the blockchain space are well-meaning but they don't know what they're doing; they invest their money all over the place based on superficial whitepapers and buzzwords.
I think that it will take several more years before we start seeing useful blockchain applications.
It's possible that the bubble may have to burst before the industry can progress though. Right now, smart people might be intrigued by blockchain technology but most of them don't want to get into the space because of the level of speculation.
Right now, it's just more profitable to launch some generic buzzword coin that does nothing than to launch one that actually does something useful.
Just like in AI right now, there are a lot of people who just want to make a lot of money and they don't care how.