The tech is already here for over half a decade. Regulation and adoption still haven't happened yet, which is not crypto's fault. Times are changing though, especially in this inflationary environment we are currently living in. People are getting tired of the same shit happening over and over again. Maybe this is a change we need.
I have explained it numerous times in this thread, but people still have no idea how the blockchain ledger works. The ledger isn't one thing on a blockchain, like you seem to understand, it's an index file that keeps increasing in size with each transaction data being acknowledged by the network as legit. It can't be changed, it can't be hacked, and it's not centralised, because it exists within a network of computers. It's like saying that the entire internet will go down because microsoft was hacked. The only real danger is quantum computers, and storing your keys in an unsafe exchange that is basically an SQL database.
Smart contracts are a given part of our future. Whether it happens with the legacy banking system or with crypto, it is inevitable.
I don't know you, but you don't seem to me like the type to change his mind once it's set. I know that my reply is probably an excercise in futility, but I always hope to be proven wrong. Maybe I helped out.