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Dollars have intrinsic value in that you can burn them to keep warm, gold you can make things out of, Bitcoins have no possible use outside of being a currency,

Dollars have intrinsic value in that you can burn them to keep warm, gold you can make things out of, Bitcoins have no possible use outside of being a currency, thus no intrinsic value.

throwaway2048 13y ago
nobody feels safer with money because of that fact though, and besides 80%+ of money is as purely electronic as bitcoin is these days.
yk 13y ago
The heating value of dollars is a lot lower than the economic value. Same for gold.
- the_mitsuhiko 13y ago
  Right now, but there were cases of people burning their money before.
- wavesounds 13y ago
  I was just pointing out Greenspan's statement was correct. Obviously dollars have a higher extrinsic then intrinsic value. I think Greenspan's point was that just like with stocks you have to be careful investing in things that have low intrinsic values, ie a company that is valued very high but doesn't make much money. This is why people view gold as a safer investment then dollars, it has a higher intrinsic value.
  - XorNot 13y ago
    Dollar's are backed by a large hegemonic power, with control of its armed forces, which is capable of extracting taxes from its population. This makes them valuable, unless you expect the US government to fall shortly. Bitcoin does not have these features. It also does not have the normal features of a commodity (i.e. industrial uses). This means it has zero intrinsic value - nothing stablizes or enforces its value in anyway.
BrokenPipe 13y ago
I certainly can't burn the dollars in my bank account. Not directly anyway. I have to go somewhere and take cash out which then I can burn, assuming the bank has that kind of money available when I attempt it and assuming I will be allowed to take it out. Furthermore in many places such activity would be illegal. Anyone arguing about Bitcoin without admitting that there is demand and basing everything on outdated/flowed theories is bound to be wrong with their predictions.
scotty79 13y ago
Bitcoin has intrinsic value because you can use zeros and ones as a desktop wallpaper. You can also leave messages for posterity in the blockchain.
guiomie 13y ago
I don't think the value of Dollars have anything to do with burning them for heat, especially in this electronic age.

Dollars have intrinsic value in that you can burn them to keep warm, gold you can make things out of, Bitcoins have no possible use outside of being a currency, thus no intrinsic value.

throwaway2048 13y ago

nobody feels safer with money because of that fact though, and besides 80%+ of money is as purely electronic as bitcoin is these days.

yk 13y ago

The heating value of dollars is a lot lower than the economic value. Same for gold.

the_mitsuhiko 13y ago
Right now, but there were cases of people burning their money before.
wavesounds 13y ago
I was just pointing out Greenspan's statement was correct. Obviously dollars have a higher extrinsic then intrinsic value. I think Greenspan's point was that just like with stocks you have to be careful investing in things that have low intrinsic values, ie a company that is valued very high but doesn't make much money. This is why people view gold as a safer investment then dollars, it has a higher intrinsic value.
- XorNot 13y ago
  Dollar's are backed by a large hegemonic power, with control of its armed forces, which is capable of extracting taxes from its population. This makes them valuable, unless you expect the US government to fall shortly. Bitcoin does not have these features. It also does not have the normal features of a commodity (i.e. industrial uses). This means it has zero intrinsic value - nothing stablizes or enforces its value in anyway.

BrokenPipe 13y ago

I certainly can't burn the dollars in my bank account. Not directly anyway. I have to go somewhere and take cash out which then I can burn, assuming the bank has that kind of money available when I attempt it and assuming I will be allowed to take it out. Furthermore in many places such activity would be illegal. Anyone arguing about Bitcoin without admitting that there is demand and basing everything on outdated/flowed theories is bound to be wrong with their predictions.

scotty79 13y ago

Bitcoin has intrinsic value because you can use zeros and ones as a desktop wallpaper. You can also leave messages for posterity in the blockchain.

guiomie 13y ago

I don't think the value of Dollars have anything to do with burning them for heat, especially in this electronic age.