For sending money to friends in other countries, it is so much cheaper, faster, and more reliable than the traditional money-transfer options I had before.

For buying things around town, I have a debit card that draws from my USDC wallet. Currently, it's less convenient than my credit card, because I have to keep that account full enough to be used, and if I need to fill it up in the moment, it takes about five minutes to jump through all the hoops necessary to not incur any fees. But, as an early adopter I don't mind. Fixing that UX isn't the kind of thing that requires a major technological breakthrough.

USDC operates on multiple layer-1 blockchains, for example Algorand. When transferring USDC between Algorand wallets, the transaction takes a few seconds and costs a small fraction of a cent. Compare that to the shit show that is Western Union, or Small World Money Transfer, or wiring money between non-cooperative banks.

I also own ALGO coins. I could use these as a medium of exchange as well, but I don't, and it would make less sense to do so. Instead I think of these as stocks. Their value fluctuates with the market, and they allow me to vote in Algorand governance voting sessions. If I wanted to liquidate these assets, I would wait until the price went up and then convert them to USD or USDC. I wouldn't spend them with a debit card any more than I would spend stocks with a debit card.

Of course there is an additional use of ALGO's as a medium of exchange - transaction fees for executing smart contract transactions. I haven't found any compelling dApps yet, but in theory this will become another primary use case.