If we assume for a moment it's a currency (and not a security) and it fulfills the goal of an non manipulable currency well (IMO it doesn't) then you could say:
Besides the operators (miners, devs) following people are the main profiteers:
- in a progressive well working country, mainly organized crime, terrorists and people wanting to destabilize the country, so if you live in such a (non existing) country you would not want it at all
- in a autocratic country it's the opposite, you want it really really hard
- in a dysfunctional country it can be helpful but the "it's safe from government manipulation" point matters less then the it's not operated by the government point
Now most countries are somewhere in-between so there is no clear cut answer.
But as far as I can tell all ethically "good" use-cases which couldn't simpler be archived with other means are also illegal by law of at least some involved parties/countries.
Now by-law illegal doesn't mean bad.
Still IMHO Bitcoin completely failed as currency, and some of the other promises aren't really there either.
It did have a temp. huge success as security, (stock like) speculation target and high risk speculators (at some point, not now).
How many real world experiments do we need to run before people accept that governments aren’t self-regulating? Why do laws matter when the government can get around them and change them whenever it wants? Eliminating alternative means of exchange is just cementing the opportunity for governments to implement their own digital currencies, and if you don’t think they’ll abuse the power that gives them, you need to read more history.
If governments are successful in manipulating money to avoid volatility, why are these still scores of hyperinflation failed currencies, financial crises due to too much debt, and so on? Why is these not a clear law of economics that can lead to stability and no recessions?
Governments are far more answerable to average citizens than the people behind Tether or the whales currently, even if government isn't ideally accountable. Also, governments have reasonable incentives to keep currencies at levels that maintain economic conditions. Being voted out or overthrown are consequences of economic mismanagement.
True, but the fact that government regulation is needed kinda voids the argument that crypto currencies are great because they can't be manipulated by the government like a fiat currency.
Some expenditure, but how much? Because right now it's an incredibly large amount of energy. Also, the US govt controls quite a substantial amount of bitcoin, I even have a conspiracy theory that bitcoin could have been created by the US govt ..