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The typical argument (not one I necessarily agree with or am making) is that there is a limited supply of Bitcoin, whereas the supply of USD is controlled by US monetary policy. On the other hand, it is "decentralized", i.e. backed by the blockchain and not a political body.

Again, not my arguments, but arguments I have heard.

The supply is only kinda limited though; most of it is controlled by a few accounts, and they could release more supply if they wanted to in order to do things like US monetary policy

They'd run out eventually, but you'd still have lost out

> what's the benefit of bitcoin compared to say, USD for paying for things?

You help enrich the Bitcoin speculators. Spending in USD doesn't do that.

International transactions where PayPal locks your account for no reason comes to mind.