I think IOTA's got amazing upside. In June I said I thought when the non crypto investing community discovered it, it could go "parabolic." They haven't yet, and I still think that. Here, if interested:
https://www.sportsbookreview.com/for...ts-crypto.html
Like Ethereum, IOTA's an entirely new, complete alternative to the blockchain, so also like ETH, developers can put together their own projects using IOTA's exchange (think Gnosis and Golem), except with the advantage over ETH and the blockchain of having every transaction permanently free.
I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't be surprised to some day (soon? who knows) see IOTA's market cap about what Ethereum's is now (about $27 billion), which equals almost exactly your $9 per coin price.
Heh, besides, IOTA's got kickass buzzwords: "Internet of Things," "B2B," "The Tangle"; plus, a slick website. Those things count, even if its wallet is a POS.
PS: You're totally right in your impression that IOTA was rushed to market before it was ready. There was so much positive buzz about it that the devs went with the "strike while the iron's hot, even if we're not quite ready for prime time" approach, but I think they were disappointed by the market's valuation.