Well, printed pieces of paper have no intrinsic value either.
Money is just a symbol. Read the long discourse by Ayn Rand’s John Galt for an excellent treatment on this subject.
Trouble is, the government forces us to accept those, and can and will smash anything competing with official currency if and when they decide to do so.
Someone mentioned to me the other day that a government crackdown on the stuff (already banned in China i'm told) won't happen because Wall Street investors are now dipping their toes into this.
That doesn't preclude the government from smashing bitcoin. What it will likely mean is that the government will quietly warn Wall Street to get out before they bring the hammer down.