Crypto has a bunch of narratives around it that are compelling to different groups of people - it should be digital gold, or it will replace centralized applications, or it is a way to bring about a libertarian future, or it'll make transactions cheaper/more accessible, or it'll get you rich quick. They contradict each other, but that's okay because no single person believes all of them. People can hold whichever narrative they want to. Some of them might be true! I don't know.

The other side of this is that certain crypto markets are highly liquid, and liquidity is sticky. Sure, they're subject to high volatility and intense drawdowns, but being a focus of trading is something that lingers a long time. Most traders don't care about fundamentals. This is just another place to speculate to them (that's not a value judgement on my part), and the best places to speculate are places with lots of other participants.

I know that basically boils down to "it's popular because it's popular," but I do think it's self-reinforcing or self-sustaining. Narratives drove money into crypto and to this high point, but I think these reflexive dynamics are also keeping it elevated