What does it mean for a protocol to fail? There's multiple layers to the bigger picture: the protocol itself, and the systems that use the protocol to provide

What does it mean for a protocol to fail? There's multiple layers to the bigger picture: the protocol itself, and the systems that use the protocol to provide value to users. Customers don't actually care about the protocol, they care about receiving value. A protocol is only as valuable as the systems that use it to add value to consumers. I remain unconvinced that any currently existing decentralized crypto system has a net-positive long-term value proposition, regardless of the underlying protocol.