Bitcoin doesn't depend on exchanges any more than your HN karma might depend on exchanges, yet karma still has value in its own sphere - with or without an exch

Bitcoin doesn't depend on exchanges any more than your HN karma might depend on exchanges, yet karma still has value in its own sphere - with or without an exchange rate. Anything that can be traded will be traded on a market if there is demand for it. All of that (everything that happens due to market forces, manipulation, etc) is irrelevant to bitcoin as a technology.