This turns into a philosophical argument too quickly though. Some would argue that because of fractional reserve banking, money has no underlying value either.

This turns into a philosophical argument too quickly though. Some would argue that because of fractional reserve banking, money has no underlying value either. I disagree with you here, I think a _vast_ majority of people actually purchasing cryptocurrency are doing it as an "investment vehicle", regardless of whether it has inherent value or not. They are treating it very much like a security.