First of all, I’ve read several times and yet I still have no clue how it even works.
Supposedly U.S. currency is based upon gold, correct?
So what thing of value is bitcoin based upon?
Someone here please break it down to 5th grader level for me.
Ask 10 people that question, and you will get 11 different answers. The simplest, and most sensible answer IMO, is to NOT view bitcoin as a currency, but rather as a transfer mechanism. It is NOT a rival to the dollar (it could be, ultimately, but isn’t as of right now). Instead, it is a direct rival to things like debit cards and paypal. Its “value” is that as a payment framework, it is substantially safer, cheaper, and more resilient, than those rivals. In addition, since one’s “account” is measured in a publicly maintained ledger, you are not tied to a specific vendor (paypal, stripe, your bank, etc.).
All “speculation” on bitcoin’s value is just that: speculation. If bitcoin/bitchain becomes the transfer payment mechanism of the future, then individual bitcoins will rise in value dramatically. If, on the other hand, nobody is using bitcoin as a transfer payment mechanism in, say, 10 years, then the value of individual bitcoins will be zero.
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>> “Supposedly U.S. currency is based upon gold, correct?” <<
Nope! based on nothing but people’s willingness to accept it.
>> “So what thing of value is bitcoin based upon?” <<
World wide monetary freedom.
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