As you've discovered yourself once last year, the option of using cash (without permission / knowledge of a third party) is more important than actually using i

As you've discovered yourself once last year, the option of using cash (without permission / knowledge of a third party) is more important than actually using it. This is the same misleading argument as when people claim that BTC is in practice equivalent to USD as most people just keep it on exchanges (same as USD in banks). Yes, but BTC/crypto also gives you one new option, i.e. not keepign money on an exchange ("being your own bank"). You're free to take that option, or not - but it exists.