To be fair, I've only ever bought crypto as a young person for the express purpose of purchasing drugs on the internet. In that very specific scenario, the dollar was worthless while crypto could be exchanged for goods and services.

But yes, you're right, I'm conflating assets with currency here and putting too much weight behind my personal experiences. I realize that isn't the way most people interact with crypto these days, and even if it were, facilitating a black market is not a point in crypto's favor.