Crypto is not money, it's a technology that makes it easy to track and transfer units out of account in a trustless way.
Most would confidently argue that stablecoins are money. I would argue Bitcoin and Ethereum are also nascent forms of money, but that's outside the wider tech/platform point.
How would you word it?
Even the peer-to-peer usage is primarily driven by enthusiasts and spot-traders. Cryptocurrency's only future is being treated like ERC-20 Pokemon cards.
> They will always be inferior to the dollar purely on the virtue that they rely on the value of $USD to exist
As long as you can access / cash out from dollars, yes. Most people don't have this privilege or access to first class financial services.
Usage: I agree that usage is currently being driven primarily by enthusiasts and speculators, but in the last 3 years its changing fast... Here are some links. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33723425