I’m assuming that because this is a gold and silver forum that in your subjective opinion gold derives its value from its physical form and that in order for something to have value it must possess physical characteristics. In other words it must be a commodity.
Applying that line of thought we can dismiss love as have any value because it’s not a commodity. Furthermore fine art work in its physical form is little more than a few $$ of paint, canvas and wood suggesting the Mona Lisa is grossly overvalued. The rocks in my garden conversely have more value than the feeling an icy wind on my face evokes as I stand on the edge of a cliff watching the surf pound the shore because rocks are physical unlike emotions.
The point I’m trying to make is that value is derived subjectively, it is assigned by users as they meet their needs and desires. And yes, fiat currencies have value, they are a good we use to trade, they're just not very sound because they are backed by the State’s monopoly on power and can be inflated thus destroying wealth. A good doesn’t have to have physical form in order to have value.
Just because cryptocurrencies have no physical form doesn’t make them worthless.
You are missing the point. Value is more-or-less subjective.
Here are some key facts ideas that I think of:
1. Bitcoin consumes a lot of electricity and some say it consumes so much that it's not really worth mining:
https://powercompare.co.uk/bitcoin-mining-electricity-map/
2. Gold and even fiat money had a "trade system" behind them, an entire "living" infrastructure (trade system, infrastructure), which cryptocurrencies don't
3. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exist "for themselves" like "wannabe currencies", but they're merely speculative assets, closer to ETF's, treasuries, shares
4. Bitcoin is only for a select few who know how to handle it (it simply is too damn complicated to buy, trade) - it's important what the masses use: if it's dollars, because they're a lot easier to use
5. Gold is scarce and it's real. The US dollar has petrodollar behind it (more or less), but it too is based on petrol, which is real. This is not subjective, but real,
material, physical value. Bitcoin is not. It's virtual, invented. Digital fiat.
6. Look at both paths of Bitcoin: the drammatic rise (which made many rich) and the drammatic decline (which disappointed many) - after such a massive disappointment and such instability, many are already runnig away: there goes the subjective value
7. Cryptos are spreading like bacteria, countless species of cryptos and they're confusing, most created for the mere "game of hope" of winning, speculating. This is a long chain of events leading nowhere.
8. Bitcoin is "hope investment": let's invent something and hope it goes up
9. Speculation is stronger in Bitcoin than trade: few people actually buy services, products with it - most of it is speculation
10. Millions of Bitcoins were already lost. And they are still lost. And more will get lost. But yes, you can divide it... that doesn't mean it will compensate for the loss.
11. It's a pyramidal scheme: let's get in and lure many in, hope it goes up, then we will sell it or buy things with it
12. Look at the typical bubble graph: it is going down. Even right now, it's been going down, even while many are promoting it. Tulip mania, gold bubble... petrodollar bubble perhaps. It's a bubble.
13. Bitcoin died before it lived: speculative asset and crashed due to its own speculative market
14. Technically a great invention, yes. It seems like a promising technology. But it's an IT specialists's fiat. It doesn't look like it was created by economists.
Economists don't understand it, only IT-software people do.
And IT people don't understand economics!
15. Most of the time people buy it to sell it or in order to somehow get rid of it to buy something else (e.g. other cryptos). The entire crypto game is a "move from one pocket to the other game".
16. Where is the infrastructure of Bitcoin? It should have spread. Yes, a few sites accept it. Even Peter Schiff and some travel agencies. But Bitcoin's popularity in real use is not growing, yet it's being marketed heavily.
17. Speculators market Bitcoin. People who own a lot of it and can't stand losing. They just want to push the price higher. Bitcoin is marketing-fueled.
18. It is essentially digital fiat. Even if it were wide-spread. Why would you trust it more than the petrodollar? It crashed a lot already, now why did that happen? Isn't that called a bubble?
19. You'll most likely have to sell your Bitcoin to buy dollars, euros, whatever - because most people won't understand how it works!
20. Real trade, real use is supposed to keep a "real currency" afloat, not speculation. If cryptos would have been used in trade, then their popularity and price would have steadily risen over time. Bitcoin is not a "real trade asset"
