First, I should clear up some terms. I say speculation as a contrast to investing. Investing is when you have an understanding of something underlying value (or expected value) based on some financial fact (e.g. past profits). Speculation is when you purchase something and hope for it to go up in value.

I see cryptocurrency prices largely driven by speculation. There is no underlying value that justifies the price. This means that the people purchasing cryptocurrencies today are relying on someone else purchasing it at a higher price tomorrow in order to make a profit. I might have used the term MLM incorrectly when what I meant was pyramid scheme.