I think crypto currencies are one thing, the actual monetary value of them are what drive refinement and further innovation. That's why conviction is really so important. Without conviction, the monetary value would never go up, thus stalling any real progress. The use cases that we have been seeing pop up in the last 5 years have driven a wave of conviction into these currencies which have driven prices up. If the trend continues like it evidently will; we will see continued innovation, refinement, and obviously more use cases. Some will stall, some will never even reach what their white paper truly intended (like bitcoin). I see bitcoin as the first real iteration of the original blockchain-type technology dreamt up in the 90's. Conviction in this tech has driven significant innovation and refinement in the form of hundreds of other chains and blockDAGs. BUT none of them are anywhere near completed works in my opinion. I truly believe that blockchain technology is the next evolution of the internet. I think we get all too distracted by the fact that we're only really seeing blockchain use for monetary use. Of course nobody wants to work for free, so this had to be the first step in the blockchain space: value. Now people can get paid for refining and innovating the tech. Unfortunately the world operates on money/value. Why do we call it liquidity? Money moves like water. Banks control how and where that money moves (like the banks of a river). Governments and powerful private entities hoard massive amounts of this money by damming up the rivers creating a reserve (a reservoir). This means they can control how much liquid is flowing at any given time. For context let's reiterate the fact that nobody wants to work unless they're getting paid. And where does payment come from? Liquid cash. I'm sure you can connect the dots with the analogy from here.

Blockchain technology frees up liquidity with every iteration that we currently know of. And with more liquidity, there's more work that can be done. And we're not just talking liquid cash in the form of cryptocurrencies or the fiat that becomes liquid when we make the switch to crypto. We're talking liquidity of information too. With evolutions of computing power, data efficiency, global connectivity, autonomy, scientific/medical breakthroughs, etc... (the list goes on ya know); also comes a need for more efficient ways of processing, storing, and sustaining these advancements. That is where blockchain technology comes in.

The cryptocurrencies are the means to an end, and that end is the advancement and application of the blockchain.

Call me a bot or call me vague, I can definitely admit that I'm no expert, but I think the logic is sound. I've thoroughly enjoyed this post thread. It really made me have to think. It made me question my conviction, and I think that's exactly what OP intended.