If Bitcoin were simply a ledger without the currency the carefully balanced incentives to run the network wouldn't be there. Similarly, if there was no stored v

If Bitcoin were simply a ledger without the currency the carefully balanced incentives to run the network wouldn't be there. Similarly, if there was no stored value to steal then we wouldn't have digital money, but a tokenization system that still entirely relies on the existing system. This is in large part how Ripple already works, except with an intermediate currency XRP for technical reasons. It's also an extremely strong deterrent to various forms of denial of service on the ledger itself as a crucial but auxiliary purpose.