I think originally it was kinda the first platform that did smart contracts. Now days smart contracts seem to be pretty prevalent on other platforms, so it’s less novel, but I think that was the original thing that gave it some value. It also used to be a proof of work blockchain like BtC. Not sure if they’ve fully transitioned away, but they are now proof of stake. I’d stay a million miles away from ETH as an investment, but maybe for executing smart contracts there may still be utility value.

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Originally, they were the first ones to come up with complex smart contract abilities. Bitcoin now has them, but they are still much easier to develop on Eth. There are like 100 other altcoins that support contracts too. But Bitcoin is really catching up in this way and there's no reason to think long term that it doesn't surpass Eth's abilities (because it can just absorb features from eth). At that point, the question smart contract developers will face is, why use Eth when Bitcoin has a larger user base, larger liquidity, and higher decentralization/security? There'd be no reason to pick eth. Eth is becoming increasingly centralized, I would stay away if I were you. Like every coin except Bitcoin, they traded decentralization for speed.