With the state of the stock market companies can and do go under, but generally those doing something for people dont magically disappear overnight (like any crypto certainly can.)
That's it; that's the difference.
Crypto is mostly a store of wealth, similar to a currency. It's inherit value is that it is fungible, transferrable and scarce. Unlike other currencies, the supply is not at the whims of fed officials and politicians. The difference is that you can't pay taxes directly in crypto. I like it as a hedge.
Do you believe all currencies are pyramid schemes with no inherent value as they're based on nothing?
Currencies are not meant to store wealth. They are the exact opposite, a medium of exchange. From a macroeconomic perspective wealth can only exist in the real world. E.g. you own a house, a car or a factory. When you deposit money into a bank account, you are effectively delegating wealth and letting other people use your money to obtain wealth in your place. These people net a return because of their wealth and let you have a share of their returns.
When you hoard currencies like Scrooge McDuck then you are neither spending your money, nor delegating wealth management to other people. The money has been taken out of circulation.
Then there is the other side of money/currency, money is a claim to another person's labor, meaning if you fail to act on that claim the portion of labor that this claim represents has perished because of unemployment. The solution to this problem is inflation. If labor perishes, make the claim to that labor perish as well. If you do not want to lose purchasing power you will have to invest your money. Banks let you deposit and make your money available to those who are interested in investing on your behalf. You can also put your money into financial assets that directly represent physical wealth such as ownership of a company. If banks and financial assets fail, you can still invest your money yourself.
>Unlike other currencies, the supply is not at the whims of fed officials and politicians.
Considering the vast majority of cryptocurrencies meet their demise at the hands of their creators I'm not exactly sure where the difference is. A lot of cryptocurrency people talk about how the background of the team behind the cryptocurrency is very important.
If anything I would view it as a leveraged bet on the broader market.
So it's still a game, only for lower stakes in both directions.