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Same reason gold is worth something, it's a limited resource that's fungible and a large enough people are willing to trade in to make it useful for acquiring g

by orclev 9y ago

Same reason gold is worth something, it's a limited resource that's fungible and a large enough people are willing to trade in to make it useful for acquiring goods.

ianai 9y ago
Gold has use cases. What are the use cases for Bitcoin? Are any of them compelling? So compelling that a Trump or a Buffet would ever tangle with them? (I chose those two names as two extremes - not related but a spectrum.)
- eof 9y ago
  Globally distributed ledger that you can trust without having to trust any specific entity; that has to be worth /something/ right?
- andirk 9y ago
  NBA star Dennis Rodman shilled PotCoin in North Korea http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/13/technology/dennis-rodman-north-korea-potcoin/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/13/technology/dennis-rodman-nor... , a place where I'm sure execution is the punishment for pot. And probably for coin too.
- orclev 9y ago
  Nobody investing in gold is doing it because of the industrial applications of the metal. If you're valuing gold based on its uses it's massively overvalued. The use case for bitcoin, or more accurately what it gives you that no other currency (except other cryptocurrencies) gives you is being decentralized, finite, and digital. The first and last points in particular make it very suitable for usage on the internet since it can be freely traded for goods and services across international borders while not being tied to any particular country. It remains to be seen if enough of a market can develop around bitcoin to stabilize its price (or indeed the price of any of the cryptocurrencies). The reason traditional fiat currency prices are as stable as they are is that they're coupled to the value of the goods a country trades which tend not to fluctuate up and down much. In theory cryptocurrencies value should be tied to the value of all the goods and services that they can be used to purchase, but since so few goods are actually purchasable using those currencies currently, the vast majority of their current value is derived from speculation in the market which causes the huge swings in value we see.
faragon 9y ago
USD is more useful than gold, as can be transferred electronically, and recognised everywhere. And also, the USD is more useful than Bitcoin, in the pragmatic usage, not in the idealistic. Demostration: Bitcoin liquidity is because of places where it is allowed to be changed for fiat currency. I.e. it is worth because people think they can make it liquid. What if no one wants to buy Bitcoins at current price because of thinking it is a bubble? It is the same pattern as in every bubble.

by orclev 9y ago

Same reason gold is worth something, it's a limited resource that's fungible and a large enough people are willing to trade in to make it useful for acquiring goods.

ianai 9y ago

Gold has use cases. What are the use cases for Bitcoin? Are any of them compelling? So compelling that a Trump or a Buffet would ever tangle with them? (I chose those two names as two extremes - not related but a spectrum.)

eof 9y ago
Globally distributed ledger that you can trust without having to trust any specific entity; that has to be worth /something/ right?
andirk 9y ago
NBA star Dennis Rodman shilled PotCoin in North Korea http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/13/technology/dennis-rodman-north-korea-potcoin/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/13/technology/dennis-rodman-nor... , a place where I'm sure execution is the punishment for pot. And probably for coin too.
orclev 9y ago
Nobody investing in gold is doing it because of the industrial applications of the metal. If you're valuing gold based on its uses it's massively overvalued. The use case for bitcoin, or more accurately what it gives you that no other currency (except other cryptocurrencies) gives you is being decentralized, finite, and digital. The first and last points in particular make it very suitable for usage on the internet since it can be freely traded for goods and services across international borders while not being tied to any particular country. It remains to be seen if enough of a market can develop around bitcoin to stabilize its price (or indeed the price of any of the cryptocurrencies). The reason traditional fiat currency prices are as stable as they are is that they're coupled to the value of the goods a country trades which tend not to fluctuate up and down much. In theory cryptocurrencies value should be tied to the value of all the goods and services that they can be used to purchase, but since so few goods are actually purchasable using those currencies currently, the vast majority of their current value is derived from speculation in the market which causes the huge swings in value we see.

faragon 9y ago

USD is more useful than gold, as can be transferred electronically, and recognised everywhere. And also, the USD is more useful than Bitcoin, in the pragmatic usage, not in the idealistic. Demostration: Bitcoin liquidity is because of places where it is allowed to be changed for fiat currency. I.e. it is worth because people think they can make it liquid. What if no one wants to buy Bitcoins at current price because of thinking it is a bubble? It is the same pattern as in every bubble.