I would start by saying that you have to ask the question, “What is the definition of a blockchain?” This is perhaps a somewhat hotly debated topic.
My view is that a blockchain is a trust coordination mechanism, meaning if you have two counterparties that do trust one another, you probably don't need a blockchain. You could use a database such as MySQL or MongoDB. These are all excellent tools. You don't really need a blockchain.
A blockchain comes into play—again, this is my view, and some people may disagree—and is needed when you have counterparties that don't trust one another. The question is, what is the commodity or the asset that is being put at risk? In Bitcoin you have electricity and computing hardware being put at risk. The token that is rewarding them for their activity of being honest and secure, of being good actors, is bitcoin. It's a token that's native to that system.
In Ethereum now there's been a transition away from computing hardware and electricity, and people are moving that commodity from being external to the network to one that's internal, which is ether, the native token of Ethereum. The reason people want to buy those tokens is that they believe that these open blockchains—these databases for which you don't have to have counterparty risk and you don't have to trust anyone else—are going to be very valuable tools. They are purchasing those—