So you really want to understand what's behind Bitcoin and other PoW crypto-currencies? Skip all the pseudo-economics and look at how things are and not what they appear to be:

China, Mongolia, Russia mine/remine about 90%. Bloxroute gives them a private network to both accelerate chain updates but also observe volumetrics. Bitmain and Canaan Creative supply north of 90% of the rigs and they all now run off of 100% Chinese designed and manufactured ASICs. As of Sept. 2019, no Chinese citizen is permitted to trade/transact any crypto or have an acct at any exchange. Ownership of crypto owned before this date is permitted, which means it is permanently immobilized. China is a fabulous place with wonderful people and culture. It is also economically and politically a totalitarian society.

You are therefore an investor in what China may want to do with your investment some day.

The strings are loose on the dice right now. Be sure that that will change some day.