Sure, there's that aspect. But the angle here is that they can take some of the capital transferred to them via crypto currency purchases to then use to directly invest in, and one thinks that by doing so they could well choose to invest in the ventures or areas that might increase the likelihood of the potential success of the currency. Which theoretically goes back to you.

I'm not trying to sugar-coat or rationalize the mania, only trying to explore the idea that this is both and neither gambling and investing.

I think people object to the idea that money used to purchase crypto currency in the first place is capital.

It depends on the currency in question, but for most of them, specifically no: they aren't "issued" by the company in question or even really related to them in any way. They're only in a position to gain from a coin purchase if they happen to have done the mining themselves (which they generally don't). All these ICOs are just blockchains branded by a certain company.