Bitcoin is a settlement network, used for periodic netting of positions. The fact that settlement is primarily used for direct payment now is chiefly due to the fact it is easy to do
I’m not sure that there’s any real distinction between “direct payment” and “settlement”. For that matter, while BTC may in fact be strictly preferable to physical/paper-based settlement in resource use (though even then I’m not sure that the difference is that great!), that’s rather small consolation given the extent to which electronic settlement is used today. (In fact, contrary to what’s often asserted, there seems no real difference between this sort of electronic settlement and what some people call a “private, trusted blockchain”; the latter is therefore not a very meaningful notion!)
I’m not sure that there’s any real distinction between “direct payment” and “settlement”. For that matter, while BTC may in fact be strictly preferable to physical/paper-based settlement in resource use (though even then I’m not sure that the difference is that great!), that’s rather small consolation given the extent to which electronic settlement is used today. (In fact, contrary to what’s often asserted, there seems no real difference between this sort of electronic settlement and what some people call a “private, trusted blockchain”; the latter is therefore not a very meaningful notion!)