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> why so many people consider cryptocurrencies to be such a big deal.

Sending value anywhere in the world in a very short amount of time without having to trust a middleman.

But then you have to trust a middleman to convert it into something that's actually usable. It's like gold, I can send it anywhere with DHL or UPS, but my recipient is going to have to find someone to convert it to local currency before they can actually use it. As a result, not many people send gold back and forth.

That's not why your grocery store doesn't accept gold for a pack of gum, though. If you could have an unforgeable, standard-sized, $0.01 nugget of gold, you wouldn't have to convert it, you'd just pay with that.

That's what cryptocurrencies could offer.

I suspect that is not the reason people do not send gold back and forth.

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