> Scarcity is fundamental to any store of value. There are an infinite number of potential altcoins.
Most paintings don't have (much) value. Behold my latest work, the brown ring of quality... do I hear... 5 cents?
A few paintings have value, primarily due to the fame of the artist or the history of the piece (It hung <place>). Supply is frequently capped by the fact the artist is dead...
It's much more impressive to those people to have paid to support the original rather than having a knockoff... This has been true as long as goods have been produced.
This is a funny way of saying "to enter a speculative market with foolish money."