It comes down to opinion but I'd argue there is inherent value in a trustless medium of exchange, a trustless explicit protocol for lending, market making (exchange) or gambling or the platform that powers them.
I'd also agree that price bubbles happen and future speculation becomes a dominating factor in their price action, but this doesn't mean they don't have inherent value.
It isn't trustless. If it's finance, it's trust based at the very core. Somebody is trusting somebody else to recognize the value up for offer, and being capable of converting it to a utilizable form.
This is what crypto-enthusiasts must be blind to. We could be using bottlecaps to do the same bloody thing. Nobody wants to though. Why? Because nobody else takes the value assertion of a bottle cap seriously. As long as people keep buying into the hype, and the enthusiasm is kept up through selective refusal to accept the realities and externalities of the process, then the gravy train continues.
It's not about trusting if the bottle caps are worth anything or are useful, but if the supply and exchange of bottle caps follows the financial rules that are dictated.
That's because the value and effectivenesd of cryptocurrencies as an un or poorly regulated store-of-value is dependent on their not being any doubt as to their value.
As with most things in finance, it's all trust at the bottom of it. If there is any doubt, no one will be around to be left with the bag.
i used to be one... there is no real argument. it’s just mania driven by the price going up and hoping for the price to go up. any argument against btc stands between them and the moon so they respond with anger. it’s like on reddit when gamestop stock was 400 trying to tell people to sell was met with anger
Finite resources have value.
Try convincing any crypto "enthusiast" of that, though. Literally none of them have ever been able to explain to me why cryptocurrencies should have value, but that doesn't stop them from proclaiming it the best thing since sliced bread.