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Precious metals aren't an investment, they're a hedge. Cryptocurrencies are often valued as investments rather than hedges or currency, which is worriesome.

Why is money, in any form, valuable? I would argue that you need to fully consider that question for any sort of investment, but even more so with cryptocurrency. The Theory of Money and Credit is a landmark in the field, and it is more relevant than ever. Many questions that arose when it was written in the 1920s surrounding fiat currency are being revisited with the rise of cryptocurrency. I find Mises's theory of money and value to be far more compelling than those of Marx (see Das Kapital) or Keynes (see The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money).

That saidb I use a mining program called nicehash to essentially rent out my rather fancy gaming computer to those who wish to mine coins without directly buying hardware or coins. My investment is a computer that I'd have purchased anyway, and I'm well on my way to paying for it. A friend has nearly paid for his $2600 machine. I think that's a reasonable way to hedge without exposing yourself to an obvious bubble.

I think that an increasing amount of this latest runup represents hedges by people living in nations with shaky currencies who are practically or legally prohibited from more traditional hedges like real estate or precious metals.

Any currency, including gold, is worth only as much as people believe that it is worth. We very easily forget that money is a purely psychological phenomenon.