I was wondering if some accounting concepts can be used to valuate a cryptocurrency.
This is an empirical approach so let's see what happens:
For example an asset can be measured by its purchase cost. With this is mind, we have to figure out which stuff is needed to run a blockchain.
Most blockchain need nodes to obtain consensus and validate transactions. In other words, computers and man hours are needed.
I guess that consensus methods like mining can be measured by using hash power or something like that (I'm not a geek). Probably the numbers of computers needed can be estimated based on metrics like hash power.
The next step would be to calculate an average purchase price for the computers. Multiply the numbers of computers times average price and you could get an idea of total computers costs.
The same can be applied for electricity, cooling hardware, internet connection , technical services and so on.
However, the blockain itself doesn't control any of the hardware/software. They are under the control of individuals or companies.
One day hardware costs of blockhain A could be $1000 and the next day $0 if hardware owners prefer to allocate its resources on blockhain B.
This leads to the following question:
how much is the minimun cost to run a blockhain?
The answer of this will give a rough idea about the minimun value of a coin, allthoug the minimun could be zero.
On the other hand, the maximun cost could be estimated according to the maximun transactions processed by the blockhain. A value beyond the total maximun cost could be considered as a "gain".
This is just my opinion
What do you think?