For me, there's an interesting philosophical question there.

We call these things "currencies" and we are hopeful that they will become broadly adapted as challenges and alternatives to fiat money... but, at the same time, we cling to our coins as "investments" because recent history show skyrocketing prices.

But is something really a "currency" if we're not willing to release into an economic marketplace? And then the follow-up question: Would be be even HALF as interested in cryptocurrencies is they were simply priced at a more or less stable level? Let's say Steem was almost always right around 2 USD... if "appreciation" wasn't part of the picture, would cryptos still be "cool?"