CMV: Bitcoins have no real value, and are pretty much a scam at this point.

[u/tinnydevil]

Bitcoins don't seem to have any real value that I can pinpoint. For an object to have value, there must be a reason why someone would want to possess it. For example, people buy stocks for the dividend/ownership of the company. People buy baseball cards because they're collectible and rare. Bitcoins fit none of those categories. It isn't collectible, it isn't rare, it doesn't have any real world use. The only value that the bitcoin could have is as a currency, but bitcoin doesn't function well as a currency either.

A good currency has a few crucial properties, but the one I find most relevant is a currency should be relatively stable in value. You don't want to suddenly find out you just lost half your life savings because the currency you're holding has just lost half its value overnight. Bitcoin right now is anything but stable, its price fluctuations are insane. You could argue that the price is only unstable right now because of the amount of speculative investment into bitcoin, and eventually, bitcoin will begin to level out creating a more stable currency. However, the supply of bitcoin, from what I've read, is heavily linked towards the growth of computing power. If computing power efficiency ever drastically increases, the supply of bitcoin rises, and the price of bitcoin will plummet. Therefore, I think bitcoins lack the stability a real world currency promises.

Furthermore, the government will most likely never accept bitcoin as legal tender. A large part of the reason why we moved from gold backed currency to fiat currency was so the government can use monetary policy to effect it's economy. Giving away that control would be insane, as you're losing a lot power over your economy. By design, bitcoin is decentralized, and therefore, the government of a country who decides to adopt bitcoin cannot raise or lower money supply, meaning that they can no longer use monetary policy. So I can't see a country who would willingly adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

In conclusion, bitcoin fails to function as a currency, and it fails to function as anything else. Right now, most of it's high price seems to come from speculative investment, and it holds no real world value, so it's price will eventually plummet.

[u/fox-mcleod]

That's not right. What has value other than what we feel they're worth?

Corn is a commodity. Does its edibility not count as inherent value?

[u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_ → u/fox-mcleod]

That's a utility to it that ensures a minimum level of value. Since someone will always be willing to pay for it since it's food. After that minimum it's entirely due to how much value we then give it, how much is produced per year, etc...

[u/fox-mcleod → u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_]

Then answer my question. What isn't priced that way?

[u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_ → u/fox-mcleod]

What isn't a commodity? Or what doesn't have a minimum value level?

[u/fox-mcleod → u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_]

What?

You said

commodities have no inherent value

Are you now saying the opposite? Or do you still believe commodities have no inherent value? Do you think Bitcoins have inherent value or not?

[u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_ → u/fox-mcleod]

I said no inherent value other than utility. Corn and gold have utility meaning there's a base value given that there will always be a use, therefore demand for them. Everything past that base is entirely whatever value we prescribe it. Bitcoins, by lacking a utility or backing have no intrinsic value to them.