You're claiming you don't see any value in Bitcoin and it doesn't solve any real world problems.
I never claimed either of those things.
Then I'm not sure in what context you meant:
it's really only useful as a meme investment instrument with no inherent value beyond its own name
That sounds an awful lot like you saying it's not useful and it doesn't have value. Perhaps you could clarify?
Yes, and names can be very valuable. Ask Gucci or Nike or any major sports team. Bitcoin has a brand that's worth hundreds of billions. I never said nor meant to imply that Bitcoin is "worthless".
As for inflation, both USD and BTC are investment instruments, as is gold, land, bonds, soybean futures and so on. To say that your new investment instrument "solves" inflation is circular reasoning: you are essentially promising the price of Bitcoin will go up in value compared to the value of USD, which is a promise nobody can make.
I make no promises on how the market will behave. It's going to do what it does with or without my comments. Trying to merely
predict what the market does is often a fool's errand, let alone making promises about it. But I'm quite confident I'm not wrong to state, unequivocally, that Bitcoin won't change its rules regarding monetary supply and that's an incredibly desirable property in a climate where people are becoming tired of quantitative easing and helicopter money. Even if you don't want to accept it as a "solution" to what's generally happening in fiat, you can't deny some people see value in that.
The limited supply trait is extremely important, I agree. And yes, people see value in something that cannot inflate.
As for "censorship", what you are actually talking about here is allowing citizens to engage in illegal activity. I am quite sympathetic to those living under terrible governments who need protection from corruption, and I'd wish them every tool at their disposal to save themselves. But if you are saying it's really "terrible" that American citizens can't trade with Russia right now, suffice it to say that the majority of our elected representatives don't agree with you right now, and the solution is to go through the democratic process, not go against your own government.
And I hope your government remains as democratic as it purports to be. But things change. Political ideologies shift. Governments can become more authoritarian over time. Sometimes an entire populace can be duped into voting against their own self interests and they don't even realise until it's too late. Coups happen. Dictators rise. There are so many times in history when incredibly vile and repugnant people have gained positions of influence or control and committed unspeakable acts. So let's be clear that "illegal" doesn't always equal "immoral".
I completely agree that "legal" and "moral" are two different things, and I tried to caveat that in my post.
That said, if you are relying on cryptocurrencies to get you out of the thrall of a government that really wants to get you, you are in a precarious state regardless. An evil dictator could make using crypto a crime, and then send out thousands of honey pots all over the Internet to catch his prey, and
effectively outlaw Bitcoin because people would be rightfully terrified to try using it (to take just one example off the top of my head). You might be able to stay safe if its some small government somewhere, but if its the USA, well, forget it. We're in big big trouble if it's the US government that falls to tyranny, and neither Bitcoin nor any other technology would keep anybody safe...