That's because you're looking at it in terms of USD, when you look at it in terms of satoshis per byte, it's actually much lower [1][3]. And if you want to avoid the fees because you expect to transact a lot, just use lightning network, exchanges are starting to integrate it[2].
edit: I should also add that, when you look at it in terms of USD, the average transaction fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the average transaction value [4], which to me says that it's becoming the settlement layer as expected.
edit: I should also add that, when you look at it in terms of USD, the average transaction fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the average transaction value [4], which to me says that it's becoming the settlement layer as expected.
1: https://statoshi.info/d/000000017/fee-estimates?orgId=1&from...
2: https://www.coindesk.com/okex-exchange-to-integrate-bitcoins...
3: https://www.bitcoinfees.info/
4: https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/transactionvalue-btc-xr...