It's indeed one of the very few projects that I don't call a shitcoin. It has real use cases that are difficult to attain without it. Though I can't ever see it being base money for the world.
Agreed, it should be substituting cash IMHO. Bitcoin is more of a global banking system replacement. When you need spending money, swap to monero and buy groceries etc... If you need a large official international transfer, like buying a house or a business transfer, Bitcoin is perfect for the task. If you need a large transfer and privacy is of outmost importance, you still can do that with Monero. Monero is not suitable as a store of value, it is suitable for almost everything the rest.