RE: Is Bitcoin a Fiat Currency? | Does Bitcoin Have Intrinsic Value?
Clearly on its face since it is not issued by a government it is not fiat currency. On the other hand it is clearly not a commodity, it's not a physical thing with intrinsic value. You can't eat a bitcoin or smoke it or make anything out of it. so what we have left is "representative currency"
">Representative money is any medium of exchange that represents something of value, but has little or no value of its own (intrinsic value). However, unlike some forms of fiat money (which may not have anything of value backing it), to be a genuine representative money, there must always be something valuable supporting the face value represented."
https://ehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_moneyn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_money
bitcoin has all the valuable electricity that was used to mine it to give it value but you can't get that electricity back if you turn in your bitcoin.
I never feel comfortable with the intrinsic value argument. I wouldn't say gold has massive "intrinsic value". Yeah, it conducts electricity and is shiny and pretty, but it's main value is in its utility and limited quantity, and bitcoin has both of those, AND adds the value of being able to send it across the world quickly (although not always inexpensively, unfortunately).
Yeah, dollars used to represent gold. But gold doesn't represent anything, you can't trade it in to get back the electricity and gas you used to mine it either. Yet still it holds value.
makes a great paper weight, excellent conductor, that sort of thing like you said it has "utility" and thus intrinsic value. Makes great jewelry and art. Good for making teeth out of. you can't do any of those things with a bitcoin.
yeah but i really don't think those things give it it's main value. Rocks make good paperweights too. Gold's #1 value to humans is it's usefulness as money. That's it's primary utility, which is an intrinsic value too, and far above all its other uses. And Bitcoin has that same primary value in spades.
what other uses does bitcoin have?
...what other uses does it need to have? It does what nothing else can do. That's major intrinsic value.
Gold can't be sent through electrical wires, because it's physical. Bitcoin HAS to be purely digital to do what it does better than gold.
What other uses does a pizza have? Pizza is useful as food when you're hungry. You don't need it for anything else. it has intrinsic value in that it is food. Bitcoin has intrinsic value in that is the first, most proven, purely digital, completely decentralized money. That is value! That is valuable! That is a trait that is needed, that is not fulfilled by any other product. Why do I need it to ALSO be used to fill teeth and make jewelry? I don't personally care that it doesn't have a secondary use.
what is the intrinsic value of a desk lamp? Do use it for anything other than light so you can see? is it not useful or valuable, just because it can't be used for much else? It's utility value is that it makes light. Bitcoin's utility value is that it is money that is not controlled by the govenment, or any one group for that matter, that you don't have to carry in your pocket, yet can still send across the planet quickly.