According to the Bitcoin white paper, it was designed for "small casual transactions" that are too costly with conventional trust-based online payment methods (e.g., Visa, Paypal, etc.)
The Holy Whitepaper does not distinguish between Bitcoin-the-Coin (which with time tends towards suitability for high value settlements and wealth storage) and bitcoin-the-blockchain-technology (which manifests as myriad altcoins far more appropriate for small casual transactions).
Such implementation details are beyond the narrow (high-level protocol architecture) scope of the Holy Whitepaper, as are forward looking statements regarding Layer 2 (which stands to obviate and moot the entire retail payment rail debate).