I completely agree with you on the mintage having no bearing on utility, volume, etc.  And I would even argue that the idea of spending 20K BAY for a pair of shoes makes more sense than paying .011342 of a BTC for a pair (at least psychologically).

The part that I find ridiculous is the defense arguments of population or the numbers of USD in existence.  Even if there were 500 billion people on the planet... there's still only a few thousand that hold BAY - so that's irrelevant.

As far as the USD being a racket (which I would definitely agree with you on that) - can you really say other than 'potential' that crypto has thus far proven to be any different?   If you replaced 'coin devs' with 'federal reserve' - you'd once again have a group of people that have infinite spending power providing a 'widget' representing whatever value they grant to it, only as long as it is granted (and largely revocable at any time by them as well).

I believe crypto in general has great potential for disrupting the established concepts of exchange and commerce... but especially for those that still hold IPO coins - it's pretty disingenuous to cavalierly disregard any statement of caution with "but the USD is a scam and we're totally different".

At least I would add "we CAN be different" - only history will tell whether that is truly the case.  Regardless, I'm delighted to see the massive amount of work that's being done in crypto in general and in the BAY/BLK circles specifically.  I certainly don't mean to diminish the work and vision you and others have demonstrated in these regards, simply stating that we're miles from the finish line (and realistically not more than a few steps out of the gate).  I just read far too much religious zealotry on coin pages too often and so little calm rationality in regards to the actual application and promotion of crypto.  I was certainly drawn in by the concept and potential back in the early BTC days and it's that same thing that's kept me here (and in BLK) despite all the drama and scamming.

One thing I have learned however, is that the best investments and trades I've made are always the ones made with skepticism and doubt and the disastrous ones are always those made on emotion and blind faith. 

I'd much rather bet on the 'dark horse' that BAY has become now than on the 'golden child' it was initially marketed as being... as it is, my optimism for BAY will always be somewhat dampened by the fact that I didn't act on my skepticism initially.

To those who did, and are possibly coming back and considering investing in BAY now... I can see far, far less downside and an absolute crap-load of upside potential.  For the rest of us it's a much less 'unbridled optimism' that drives our continued investment.

Cheers!