I agree, however, are there any coins that don't involve other coins but can hold their own? For example, steemit has utility built in. I tried golem but its doesn't appear to be cheaper than centralized options. I want to see something groundbreaking that has real utility and is actually competitve.

you should check minexcoin. their minexbank is working fine and actually being used by their investors and hodlers. and also if you are a holder of the coin you earn revenue for their own omnigames shares.