It’s not speculation or gambling. But it’s a scam.
Imagine a private party being able to issue currency without any supervision. Even if the person/group doing it if completely honest and above board to start with, how long do you think they can withstand the temptation of taking all the real world money people gave them for the currency and running with it.
There is a reason pure anarchy doesn’t work, police and law enforcement are a necessary evil.
Of course there are tons of little scam coins out there, but the legit ones (Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin, etc.), don’t have “a private party being allowed to issue currency without any supervision.” There are specific algorithms that control the creation and distribution under a fixed process, that is open for all to see.
“Imagine a private party being able to issue currency without any supervision.”
But they’re not issuing currency. It just doesn’t meet the definition.
Even our modern state-issued currency barely meets the definition, and only because it has the backing of a legitimate government who people have some confidence in. Crypto has absolutely no backing at all, so once people notice it’s a mirage, they’re nothing more than collectibles.
other than the miners making money, it is simply a means of exchange across platforms and creditors, specially if you don’t want others eyeing your transactions, nothing more...
anybody that bought it as an investment will be lucky if it doesn’t zero out