As much as anyone talks about it and tries to come up with another system it really boils down to a core basic across the board. A blockchain needs developers which create things, those things are then used by users if they are good and people are enjoying them at which point you start to see gains either because of fees from the blockchain and/or demand for the token.
People also buy things purely for social reasons. This is why meme coins are popular. They don't have any particular use case other than allowing people to be part of a group.
!BBH