Hi, I am new to all this, but help me understand this. If there is a crypto coin that is very useful and has functional value, not just speculative, say it becomes very expensive. What is to stop someone from just creating their own coin that is the almost identical to it, and using it instead, so high prices are not paid for the other coin? How can all these coins maintain high values, when people can just create as many new coins as they want?
There is nothing in this world that can stop someone from creating their own coins, but there are some important things to note. First of all, the new coin wont be as famous as the old one, and the reason for that is the community behind the old coin. The old coin will still be valuable for its community and users. And, they wont migrate their investments to a new coin with no community and just a few users.
Think about it for a second, if you even created your own clone of a particular coin that is worth 100$ or even 1000$. And, your coin is exactly same as the old one, and even with some amazing new features. How will you be able to influence the users of that old coin to use your coin instead of the one they are already using? And how will you add your coin to the exchanges if no one has invested in your coin? You coin will literally be worthless without some good investors. It will take you long to make your coin successful.