A cryptocurrency is a digital asset recorded on a blockchain: a shared ledger, copied across many computers, that records who holds what without a bank in the middle. A token is a unit recorded on that ledger, and the protocol is the set of rules, written in software, that decides how new tokens are created, how transactions are confirmed and who gets paid for doing it.
Compare that with a share. A share is a claim on a company's profits and assets, and the company has obligations to its shareholders. Most tokens have none of that: no earnings, no dividends, no issuer that owes you anything. What's left is a price set entirely by what the next buyer will pay, driven by adoption, the scarcity rules in the code, and sentiment. With nothing underneath to anchor it, there's no level it can't fall to, and many tokens have fallen close to zero.
Without earnings underneath, the price is whatever the next buyer will pay.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.