There is no subjectivity here. We are not discussing the perceived value of cryptocurrency. We are talking about the value of the PoW algorithm. It is objectively wasteful. It is wasteful by definition. It's entire purpose is to force computational resources to spend cycles on computationally expensive problems that provide no value to society. It is an interesting an novel idea but it does not scale and that is a problem since there is a very real cost to society in expending significant amounts of the planet's resources for no gain.
Bitcoin is like gold. It’s valuable because other people say it’s valuable. But nothing useful happens when you mine crypto. Was I entertained? Did I learn something? Are they producing a widget? Even gold can be made into jewellery or used in electronics. Crypto literally just uses power.