the validation and redundancy of simple transactional data, which Bitcoin attempted to solve in a distributed manner, is far more useful in a cost benefit analysis rather than open ended computational redundancy.
Bitcoin is not any more distributed than Ethereum; it is just as redundant in that regard. Ethereum just took the concept of the programmable scripts in bitcoin and extended the functionality... That and gave us a working 12 second block time. These are the main innovations.
I won't speculate on the valuation, or whether it will 'work' as per the hype, but these are the facts. IMO Casper is a huge mistake, though.