Sounds suspiciously like a pyramid scheme...
I understand how it must sound to those not familiar with it.
It is a completely decentralized non-aligned “currency.”
Its value is based entirely on what two people agree it to be.
But the benefits are that transaction costs are minuscule. Transactions between two people can happen without the intermediary like Visa. You can take it easily across borders and convert it easily. When you are limited to $10,000 being taken out of the country, it moves across wires.
There are no charge-backs. If you are a seller of products, take-backs are a huge part of your costs.
It cannot be counterfeited, the ledger cannot be hacked. You can use it to record transactions (contracts, deeds, and the like) and the ID is unique and tied to a public block chain. It is more “real” in that sense than any government agency.
Sure, in the event of an EMP you are not going to get ahold of it. But in that case, your gold and silver are not going to be all that useful immediately.
There is a place for it in a well diversified portfolio. The blockchain technology will replace the “credit card” processor. And for third world countries, without access to banks (nearly 65% of most people in the world!) it allows for tiny transactions between two people with cel phones.
It is kind of “out there” but it is being accepted more every day.