Putting aside all the nefarious ways bitcoin can be exchanged, I still see it as a great way to transfer huge sums of money without a typical chain of custody.
For example, suppose you need to transfer $10M from the US to China, you'll need a prominent and trustworthy bank on each side of the transaction that will ensure it gets from point A to B. Transfers of this nature often take several days, and each bank will take a nice cut for that peace of mind.
Bitcoin can potentially allow that same money to be transferred in minutes without huge banks on either side.
I agree, but one has to consider that in this example, since Bitcoin acceptance in businesses isn't that widespread, the receiving side would still need a gateway to convert that money back into fiat currency, and would also incur some sort of fee.
So essentially in these use cases you are just offsetting the chain of custody a few steps later.
You're removing a huge link in the chain of custody, on that is likely the most fraught with fraud and security: the cross-border transaction part. It does not solve the problem all together, but it makes moving large sums around far easier and faster.
For example, suppose you need to transfer $10M from the US to China, you'll need a prominent and trustworthy bank on each side of the transaction that will ensure it gets from point A to B. Transfers of this nature often take several days, and each bank will take a nice cut for that peace of mind.
Bitcoin can potentially allow that same money to be transferred in minutes without huge banks on either side.