>If digital currencies focused more on this type of thing, they might actually stay around for a while longer. This is something I can see the value and usefulness of.

Bitcoins protocol was SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED to allow these kinds of services. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Script

It is exactly what you say it should be.

There's about as much point in having a competitor to Bitcoin as there is in have a competitor to the World Wide Web.

There is an incredible amount of infrastructure built up around Bitcoin. There are currency exchanges all over the world. There are thousands of software libraries and applications. These network effects are very real.

The only way to build the types of extensions that you deem valuable are on top of the existing primitive infrastructure.

It's a shame that there is so much political rhetoric clouding the the real value. It kept me from discovering this stuff for the longest time!