Genuine Question, why will Eth retain its market cap?

For context: I am newish to the crypto space. I started trading NFTs on SOL and Algo.

Due to the upcoming merge and the low price of Eth, I started to accumulate it. Decided I should probably use it if I have it, and started putting some stuff in DeFI and started checking out NFTs on Opensea.

In all honesty, I have nothing good to say about Eth. The gas fees are absolutely ludicrous. Working on SOL and Algo the fees are so small you barely even need to consider this. For even the simplest of tasks the gas fees on eth were ridiculous to the point I decided to cancel some of my Defi lending attempts as the interest wouldn't even cover the fee. I canceled my NFT purchase because the gas fee was literally more than the actual NFT. In addition the network seems SO. MUCH. SLOWER.

I ask this as an honest question, and as someone who has money staked on Eth, why will Eth not lose its market cap? Will the merge fix all these issues? If it won't why would any newcomers to the crypto space build their projects on a slower and more expensive blockchain?

I am not trying to disparage etc but I am genuinely curious to hear peoples thoughts. For now I'm honestly put off using the network entirely.