What Gives Ethereum Value?

The native currency (ether) is used within the Etherum network to perform a range of functions:

• Payment of transaction fees
• Collateral for a wide range of open finance applications
• Lending and borrowing
• Means of payments
• Medium of exchange to purchase Ethereum-based tokens (via exchanges), crypto-collectibles, in-game items, and other non-fungible tokens
• Earned as a reward for completing certain tasks
• As of Ethereum 2.0: provide computational resources

Source: VanEck.