Bitcoin Has Zero Intrinsic Value. Some People Are OK with That

But is it really any more or less intrinsic than gold? Gold can be used for jewelry and electronics, Bitcoin can be used for trustless transactions, and rapidly moving value across borders.<p>Gold bullion represents the work it took to bring it out of the earth and refine it, Bitcoin represents the equipment and electricity it took to mine the next block.<p>I at least can see that proof of work is closer to gold than proof of stake in this regard, you can quantify the value of obtaining the thing against the actual cost of obtaining it.<p>However they do adjust the process to try and keep a steady rate, gold is of course something that mining more of varies greatly in terms of success based on the terrain and equipment and all that jazz.

Zzzz. I have no Bitcoin as I value privacy. I use Monero.<p>That said if you cannot see the value of a strongly secure, decentralised, self sovereign, permissionless money for the internet then you must live in a place where banking has always been adequate. Many don’t.<p>So it has intrinsic value if it enables a use case not filled by other things. How is this not tacitly obvious.

I guess we could use dollars for paper mache if we stopped believing those have value.

The hourly price swings of Bitcoin is far too erratic to use it for mom and pop retailers to price and sell basic goods, or say, a Tesla. The price of an item has to be set in a stable currency, like the good old dollar, and only at the moment of purchase can the conversion between bitcoin and USD can be made. In this sense Bitcoin can never be a real currency for day to day staples - it takes 10 minutes to complete a blockchain transaction, and prices have to be quoted in something else. Of course middlemen who assume the price risk can offer immediate conversion, but at a high cost per transaction.

Paper Currency Has Zero Intrinsic Value. Some People Are OK with That.

Intrinsic value is completely subjective. I can&#x27;t make anything physical out of the internet, does that mean the internet is worthless?

Being resistant to debasement is good enough intrinsic value for me.

“this time” is always different until it’s not. can’t wait till it crashes to read the bag holders statements about fud

Someone on HN once said (sorry I forgot who):<p>The only intrinsic value of Bitcoin is that it is an artifact of ritual sacrifice.

I am getting tired of listening to 10 year old FUD. Its literally pointless to keep mentioning that Bitcoin has zero intrinsic value. By now everyone who hasnt moved on from this deserves whats coming next.<p>Value is subjective and Bitcoin is extremely valuable to some people. If thats not your case, well HFSP-

Pay tech workers in Bitcoin instead of government-backed currency. Are some people OK with that.

What percentage of Bitcoin transactions are used to purchase goods or services, in dollar value?

People want to possess physical objects or digital tokens or digital representations of physical objects so they can buy stuff or not have to worry about buying stuff in the future. What’s so complicated?

so does gold. but gold supply grows annually, causing devaluation in any investments while Bitcoin&#x27;s is fixed. typical FUD article.

So does any fiat currency. This is such an old chestnut.

H

My understanding is that real money (let&#x27;s say USD) have value because, thanks to loans&#x2F;mortgages that are done in USD, you have a garantee that some people will always be really motivated to get some USD, to pay their loan&#x2F;mortgage. Since those tends to last 20-30 years, that&#x27;s good because in 20-30 years you know that your USD will have value to someone (to many people even)<p>On the other hand, no one really need to get bitcoins. It would not be surprising than in 20-30 years, no one cares about it (and it is actually the most likely scenario IMO).