What is the “thing” that gives Bitcoin its value? Is it a straight fiat currency, or does fiat currency derive its value from the backing of a government? Is bitcoin valuable because it is transferable into a fiat currency like the usd (a fiat currency backed by a fiat currency)? To go back to my question of a couple days ago is Bitcoin valued because of the willingness of groups to pay the electric bill to maintain the blockchain in exchange for getting Bitcoins kicked out to them from time to time?
This is a 50 minute talk from Andreas Antonopolous:
https://youtu.be/ONvg9SbauMgIt covers a lot of ground, with the "value" question addressed in the last half.
In the beginning... 00:00
Digital scarcity 00:41
Peer-to-peer network 01:34
Solving the double-spending problem 01:59
Cash, peer-to-peer without intermediaries 04:10
People paying companies to maybe pay people 04:34
The un-banked and the under-banked 05:28
Bitcoin - digital money as cash 06:08
What is cryptocurrency? 07:16
Independent self-verification 08:42
Why the Internet is special - global free flow of information 10:24
Why Bitcoin is special - global free flow of money 12:24
The bizarre aspects of traditional banking 13:34
Adjusting to this new world 15:36
Governments attempting to control Bitcoin 16:48
"Who's in charge?" - system of trust without hierarchy 18:18
People who see Bitcoin's strengths as flaws 20:20
Multi-signature schemes for consumer protection 21:19
Our misunderstanding of the most ancient technology 23:20
What gives money value? Stories we tell, promises we trust 26:30
The shared hallucination of paper money 29:48
False promises and the myth of "zero-value" currencies 31:22
Gresham's Law in India 34:02
The characteristics of good money & currency 35:13
Difficulties of barter at a large scale 36:49
Ancient tokens of values 38:13
Scarcity vs. inflationary supply, debt & devaluation 39:11
Bitcoin vs. traditional money as a store of value 41:52
"How much is a bitcoin worth?" 43:05
Digital gold 43:47
"Fake money" resolved by the market 44:21
Closing summary & remarks 45:17