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US Dollars have no intrinsic value either, this does not stop anybody from using them. Talking about rice is silly, we are talking about currency. No major eco

US Dollars have no intrinsic value either, this does not stop anybody from using them. Talking about rice is silly, we are talking about currency. No major economies currencies are based on anything with intrinsic value.

Igglyboo 12y ago
Technically they do because the paper and metal cost money. Other than that, they are actually backed by something.
- deeviant 12y ago
  Backed by what? Faith? Confidence? You can't trade your US dollar in for gold. The note literally just says, "You must accept this for any debt(Because)". Are we really going to go down to that intrinsic value of the paper it's printed on??? To be honest, I actually have little faith in bitcoin myself, but I can at least see the reason why it has taken off as far as it has, and it did earn me a pretty penny when I got out(I mined all my own bitcoins and just to experiment with a new technology, right from the beginning). I just get tired of hearing extremophile arguments this way or that.
wodenokoto 12y ago
You have to pay taxes in US dollars if you are an American citizen. So the intrinsic value is not getting thrown into jail. But you are right, we mostly use USD because we trust that we can always find someone who will want it. All major fiat currencies have an army/police force backing them up. Not that long ago all major currencies were backed by gold or silver. Fiat is a very small, recent part of the history of currencies. Talking about rice makes perfect sense in explaining intrinsic value. If we look at major currencies that are not upheld by force we have gold and silver which have been staple currencies with intrinsic values throughout probably most of civilized history. Other societies uses cigarettes (jails) as currency, because even non-smokers know they can easily find someone to trade with, so cigarettes become a storage of value that is not upheld by any violent force.

Igglyboo 12y ago

Technically they do because the paper and metal cost money. Other than that, they are actually backed by something.

deeviant 12y ago
Backed by what? Faith? Confidence? You can't trade your US dollar in for gold. The note literally just says, "You must accept this for any debt(Because)". Are we really going to go down to that intrinsic value of the paper it's printed on??? To be honest, I actually have little faith in bitcoin myself, but I can at least see the reason why it has taken off as far as it has, and it did earn me a pretty penny when I got out(I mined all my own bitcoins and just to experiment with a new technology, right from the beginning). I just get tired of hearing extremophile arguments this way or that.

wodenokoto 12y ago

You have to pay taxes in US dollars if you are an American citizen. So the intrinsic value is not getting thrown into jail. But you are right, we mostly use USD because we trust that we can always find someone who will want it. All major fiat currencies have an army/police force backing them up. Not that long ago all major currencies were backed by gold or silver. Fiat is a very small, recent part of the history of currencies. Talking about rice makes perfect sense in explaining intrinsic value. If we look at major currencies that are not upheld by force we have gold and silver which have been staple currencies with intrinsic values throughout probably most of civilized history. Other societies uses cigarettes (jails) as currency, because even non-smokers know they can easily find someone to trade with, so cigarettes become a storage of value that is not upheld by any violent force.