Are there any companies providing actual financial or banking services using bitcoin? Are people using these? Stephen's argument assumes that the answer is "no"

Are there any companies providing actual financial or banking services using bitcoin? Are people using these? Stephen's argument assumes that the answer is "no", and from this makes a compelling case for it being a Ponzi scheme. I personally would change my mind about this if you could show that this technology offers advantages over traditional products, and I'm willing to bet that even the author would reconsider his position. On the key metrics, transaction cost and speed, current cryptocurrencies lag behind. If it were capable of providing these it would even become a stable store of value since it could provide the framework for all banking around the world whose provisioning price could remain approximately constant.