I assume you don't know how bitcoin works because you are using the same arguments against it that most ignorant people use. The fact that you do know about it

I assume you don't know how bitcoin works because you are using the same arguments against it that most ignorant people use. The fact that you do know about it and you are still boiling things down to those explanations/arguments is even more discouraging to me. This is hacker news, we don't need to boil things down for the casual reader here, this audience wants to understand the detailed nuances and their implications. Yes, transaction fees are too high for everyday small purchases. The 10 minute transaction/confirmation time is too slow for that too. That's why (just like in our current banking system) layers are being built on top of bitcoin to solve those problems (the lightning network, for example). The trade off is that these fast and cheap transaction layers will have a little less security and longer final settlement times (similar to our current system but actually still way more secure, and also permissionless, free of central control, etc., etc.).