Energy is consumed and that is why there is a cost. I'm not sure there is any such thing as "intrinsic value", but there is a cost. Because of that cost, the l

Energy is consumed and that is why there is a cost. I'm not sure there is any such thing as "intrinsic value", but there is a cost. Because of that cost, the larger system works, because that is how the system keeps itself honest, by making it expensive to lie. But there are other ways to have an honest system that don't involve wasting energy, so there's no direct connection between the energy that's wasted and any value the system has. If energy was free, silicon would be more expensive, mining difficulty would go up, and bitcoin would still "work" just like it does today.