In the beginning days of the Internet, it was not easy to use. One had to have a computer modem, and dial into a local university to login to a text-based interface and run commands to access handful of text-based resources. The idea of email was a curiosity at best to the people I explained it to in the early 90's. Many people were of the opinion that this whole "computer thing" was a fad that would go away.

My point is that technology evolves, and cryptocurrency will likely one day be as easy to use as web browsing is today, or will be entirely transparent to the user. The rapid rise of crypto-backed debit cards is one example of transparency. When nations release their own national cryptocurrencies, as a few have announced they will, and people are earning their salaries with crypto, the payments landscape will be different.

There is also the whole machine-use dimension of this technology - autonomous vehicles that operate by themselves accepting cryptocurrency from the humans it gives rides to, which it then uses for charge-ups and maintenance, for example. Our new programmable money need not be used only by persons. The entire Internet of Things movement will play a big role in the evolution of cryptocurrency (IOTA, I'm looking at you).

Not to mention the emergence of artificial intelligence and its integration with crypto/distributed networks through projects like SingularityNet. And Virtual Reality and the various distributed platforms being designed.

So I'm not sure about whether the seemingly exuberant pricing is all that irrational. Most technology stocks are also trading in multiples of their fundamental valuations, because traders are looking ahead to their future potential. We have a loooong way to go with the implementation of p2p cryptographic network technology, but there are tens of trillions of dollars currently invested in other asset classes, institutional funds, etc., available for investing in the emerging new technological infrastructure. I like one commenter's idea that the stock market is a giant bubble, and cryptocurrency is the pin.