Of course. Currency itself only has value due to its ability to be traded for other objects. Currency on its own has no value. Bitcoins are in the same boat. If

Of course. Currency itself only has value due to its ability to be traded for other objects. Currency on its own has no value. Bitcoins are in the same boat. If bitcoins can be traded for other objects, they have value regardless of any ability to trade them for currency. Put another way, the only thing that bitcoins (and dollars for that matter) require are that people perceive them to have value. Besides even if bitcoins cannot be directly traded for dollars on an exchange, the same could still occur with intermediate objects. If I give you bitcoins in exchange for a laptop, I can then turn around and sell that laptop for money. It's not as convenient (and could be illegal), but it would work.