Ultimately, "value" is always a social construct. When currencies were backed by gold, you could say, well the currency value is its gold equivalent - but this only works because, apparently, gold has "value".
Otherwise, things have "value" because we can do things with them. Food and drink are probably the most immediate ones - we need them to survive.
Classic currencies have quite a lot of use too. They are universally-accepted, protected by governments (inflation concerns notwithstanding), tamper-protected, there are safe and easy ways to store and exchange it (bank accounts / transfers, cash, cheques), it is protected by the full might of the law against crime. In some countries more than in others of course. So it's a good universal medium of exchange, even if ultimately it is a social convention.
Crypto in general has some, but not all of the above properties. I now totally get that when you really can't trust your crony government to provide such a currency, they are a good alternative.
But ultimately all "value" is merely what someone will pay (exchange) for the thing.
Exactly why I mentioned monetary -exchange-, not backing. The value is backed by a countries GDP, which helps determine its value/worth. If I accept (exchange) a Dollar for a Euro, I know it is backed up by a certain economic output, status and its national banks. I think that’s a difference there?
It’s a bit different I think, you can’t explicitly exchange a dollar for a (tiny) fraction of US GDP. You can buy some product of it with it, but eg if US continues to grow at 2% per year, you can’t latch on to that.
By contrast, shares have this property, to some extent, because in the long run they either pay dividends, or are returned for capital. A share literally owns you a bit of the company’s economy. Give or take non voting shares, non dividend paying shares etc.
Otherwise, things have "value" because we can do things with them. Food and drink are probably the most immediate ones - we need them to survive.
Classic currencies have quite a lot of use too. They are universally-accepted, protected by governments (inflation concerns notwithstanding), tamper-protected, there are safe and easy ways to store and exchange it (bank accounts / transfers, cash, cheques), it is protected by the full might of the law against crime. In some countries more than in others of course. So it's a good universal medium of exchange, even if ultimately it is a social convention.
Crypto in general has some, but not all of the above properties. I now totally get that when you really can't trust your crony government to provide such a currency, they are a good alternative.
But ultimately all "value" is merely what someone will pay (exchange) for the thing.