There aren't that many uses for blockchains

Blockchains are often hyped as a general-purpose technology that will reshape the internet, but they are actually slow, expensive, and energy-intensive compared to traditional databases. A useful framework for evaluating blockchain applicability requires three conditions: you need a shared database, you can't trust any single party to host it, and you need absolutely nothing else. Most proposed use cases — international transfers, tokenized stocks, smart contracts — fail at least one of these criteria. International transfers still require KYC/AML compliance; tokenized stocks require trusting the issuing company anyway; smart contracts rely on off-chain 'oracles' that reintroduce trusted third parties. Decentralized currencies like Bitcoin remain the primary valid use case, yet even that sees more speculative investment than actual currency adoption. The broader history of blockchain projects is marked by fraud, hacks, and unfulfilled promises.