I would argue that most of the perceived value right now is speculative. The actual benefits over using USD in transactions is marginal, for most use cases.
IMO, the speculation comes from the enormous potential of the idea. What is something you can do with an electronic currency, not tied to a single government, which has a great deal of value to the average person?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I see most altcoins as people trying to crack this nut. It seems likely to me that someone will find a use, partly just because the cost of attempting it is quite low.
I also found it a bit hard to swallow. The article mentions entire towns without access to electricity. Its hard to imagine a digital currency being preferable in those conditions.
I do agree with the author that there is an inordinate number of us who brag about the number, but this isn't something that is likely to just go away. Unless a new and objective measure of 'productivity' comes along people will still humblebrag about how long they work
We actually have an account system for users that maintains a balance. So the $0.30/transaction is charged on funds entering the network, but once funds are in the network all transfers between accounts are charged a percentage fee regardless of amount. More info on how our fees will be assessed is available from the help link at the bottom of the page.
I'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but I've been working on developing a service that tries to solve this kind of problem. It's project centric with crowdfunding for different "problems" on the project. We've got a coming soon page up now if you'd be interested in taking a look at it, feedback is always welcomed. We should be posting to HackerNews officially in a few days.
IMO, the speculation comes from the enormous potential of the idea. What is something you can do with an electronic currency, not tied to a single government, which has a great deal of value to the average person?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I see most altcoins as people trying to crack this nut. It seems likely to me that someone will find a use, partly just because the cost of attempting it is quite low.