But bitcoin's utilitarian value shouldn't be compared to gold's since much of the speculation in bitcoin is for its future use as the unit of account for the blockchain and what kind of demand that will result when businesses begin using it for trust applications like smart contracts.
Bitcoin and the blockchain have plenty of tangible value. No wonder you're appalled at the price of bitcoin if you think it is only a currency.
It is the first human invention that provides automated trust. The smart money sees bitcoin not as a currency but as the unit of account
that will be needed for the millions of trust applications that will someday run on the blockchain.
The ramifications will actually make the price increase since it will finally get rid of Chinese miner centralization which has always been a big risk.
The Chinese miners will just set up shop elsewhere. Maybe they won't move at all since local authorities in China benefit greatly when underutilized power capacity is used by bitcoin.
Gold's intrinsic value is much lower than its nominal value. If gold was only used for jewelry and electronics but not as a store of value its price would crash.
Bitcoin does have an intrinsic value which is its use as the unit of account for the blockchain public ledger. To use the blockchain for trust applications like smart contracts and and asset tracking all the world's business will need to pay for it in Bitcoin.
Hence buying Bitcoin is like buying real estate, where the real estate is future recording space on the blockchain.
Slashdot Mirror
But bitcoin's utilitarian value shouldn't be compared to gold's since much of the speculation in bitcoin is for its future use as the unit of account for the blockchain and what kind of demand that will result when businesses begin using it for trust applications like smart contracts.
Bitcoin and the blockchain have plenty of tangible value. No wonder you're appalled at the price of bitcoin if you think it is only a currency. It is the first human invention that provides automated trust. The smart money sees bitcoin not as a currency but as the unit of account that will be needed for the millions of trust applications that will someday run on the blockchain.
The ramifications will actually make the price increase since it will finally get rid of Chinese miner centralization which has always been a big risk.
The Chinese miners will just set up shop elsewhere. Maybe they won't move at all since local authorities in China benefit greatly when underutilized power capacity is used by bitcoin.
Gold's intrinsic value is much lower than its nominal value. If gold was only used for jewelry and electronics but not as a store of value its price would crash.
Bitcoin does have an intrinsic value which is its use as the unit of account for the blockchain public ledger. To use the blockchain for trust applications like smart contracts and and asset tracking all the world's business will need to pay for it in Bitcoin. Hence buying Bitcoin is like buying real estate, where the real estate is future recording space on the blockchain.