The discussion is no longer one of whether cryptocurrency will survive, but rather how it will evolve, and when it will reach maturity.

Interesting paper by PwC (Accounting firm), it is from 2015 but still applies. I would recommend the read, here are some of the highlights:

Cryptocurrencies carry groundbreaking potential to allow consumers access to a global payment system—anywhere, anytime—in which participation is restricted only by access to technology, rather than by factors such as having a credit history or a bank account.

In our view, the cryptocurrency market will develop at a pace set by the key participants, characterized by likely growth spurts of legitimacy from one or more of these participants in what we call “credentialising moments.” For the market to reach the next phase in its evolution toward mainstream acceptance and stable expansion, each of the five key market participants—merchants and consumers, technology developers, investors, financial institutions, and regulators— will play a role.

One limiting factor for better cryptocurrency adoption is consumer awareness. Only 6% of respondents to PwC’s 2015 Consumer Cryptocurrency Survey say they are either “very” or “extremely” familiar with cryptocurrencies. Moreover, there’s a very confined user base: Only 3% of survey takers reported having actually used cryptocurrencies within the last year.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for those involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem is in the potential this technology has in developing economies. In fact, rapidly developing technology has enabled many emerging economies to completely skip entire stages of development. For example, cell phones made it unnecessary for African countries to build telephone lines. Similarly, cryptocurrency may one day enable developing economies to forgo the need to build large financial infrastructures, clearing houses, and other third-party intermediaries.

If the pace of growth continues at a steady pace, it may not be long before the next iteration of cryptocurrency offers new ways of transfer, as well as wealth and asset creation that may reshape much of what we previously thought was possible on the Internet.

Here is the link: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/publications/assets/pwc-cryptocurrency-evolution.pdf