We were just having a similar discussion, my husband and I that is, and when we started learning cryptocurrencies, it was like hitting a wall. It was amazing to realize that there wasn't a backing to the coins outside it's own creation. It's a bright future and we can't wait until it spreads more....cryptocurrencies bring fairness to the unfair world we've come to know.
You're lucky to have found someone that you can have such intelligent conversations with. The backing to coins is in how much we value them. Keep that value high.