About 1), you could compare it to artworks that are sold for huge prices even though they may have practically no assets to back them. For instance the work ‘Comedian’ by Maurizio Cattelan that was recently
recently sold for 6.2 million dollars. This work consists of a banana duct-taped to a wall, but the banana and the duct-tape is not what was sold: by buying the work you acquired the right to duct-tape a banana to a wall, and call it ‘Comedian’. Is this a scam? I think not, but for me it is worthless, in every sense of the word.
About 2), I don’t know anything about it, so you may have a point there.
ETA: ‘Comedian’ was bought by a crypto-millionaire. There is some irony in this.