Who is speculating on currencies? In case you meant me: I just mine, I don't trade (except BTC->EUR when they are worth more than what I invested energy-wise).
What I meant with "service" is offering a website to speculate on virtual potatos based on a ponzi scheme. Unlike a bitcoin (which value could be determined by the effort, that is by the time and energy used to produce it), there is no economic value associated with some dataset (if you think otherwise, I can sell you a script to create a lot of datasets in very low time!).
I think it really comes down to something a little bit more philosophical, and what dictates the value of any currency. The only reason something has value is because a
person decides, in their mind, that it has value, relative to a currency. It isn't given value by standing for gold, or being an expression of work, it is given value because one person wants to trade it for something else. And whether it be a Porsche, a house, a rock, a music album, or even a piece of data on a server (Free to play games, anyone?), it holds value in someone's mind, and that's the only reason it's worth anything to anyone.