The concept of buying a cryptocurrency as an investment is similar to buying hundreds of the latest model iPhones and hoping they will go up in value. Investing in a pure technology solution that does not have the capability to evolve is like throwing your money away. Technology companies that can innovate and continually produce new products is a good potential investment. Investing in the actual products of those companies is not a good investment.
If you want to invest in the blockchain, wait for the companies that start to innovate and come up with novel and useful applications of blockchain solutions that they can somehow patent and profit from. If you want to protect from inflation, just buy gold.