Monkey-nomics.
As you stated it is artificial demand hence nothing but a pump and dump. If a L2 has a valuation that is sustained, then it will end up being reflected in the L1 value. There is no way to separate the two. Any data written to the blockchain can be mirrored in any application, causing a greater spread of value than simply through the single L2.
Humans don’t trade data driven, emotions make speculation happen.
There is a three parts way to look at it:
Perception Value =!=>> Locked Value =!=>> Traded Price
All systems aspiring trading price have to go though that narrow hallway. Usually you pitch a Vision and sell the Idea generating Perception Value. Than you try lock value at those levels to manifest perception into locked value. Therefore the market will decide over the price due to the usual factors, supply and demand.
Take @Holozing as an example:
Pitch the Game = Perception >>
Airdrop and LPs = Locked Value >>
Trading Price = Price on Hive-Engine
There is no product yet, but the Token is established and the market does its thing already.
All you need is to solve this puzzle and you can birth whatever Token you want to play with. It doesn’t need to be a whole game for a value proposition.