[kerbs]

Gold is used to make things.

You can argue what its value should be as a material alone, but it’s not entirely speculation.

[superfist]

and how much of gold price is in your opinion value of material itself? Strip out that material price and you have speculation price. Price of Bitcoin is mostly that speculation price + instead of material some mathematical properties.

[lottin]

> Price of Bitcoin is mostly that speculation price + instead of material some mathematical properties.

Mathematical properties don't provide economic value.

The demand for bitcoin is almost all speculation, and a tiny bit is for purposes of making clandestine payments, paying ransoms, and such.

[hparadiz]

Crypto can be used as a store of wealth when crossing borders preventing search and seizure of your wealth against overzealous governments. See Russia in the early 90s which would regularly search and confiscate cash from people leaving. That alone makes it very valuable.

[Larrikin]

What's the scenario where the government can take the digital money from your bank accounts but can't take the digital money from your crypto wallet?

[kerbs]

You made a subtle, but important, pivot from the topic of “Bitcoin” to the broader topic of “crypto”.

Bitcoin specifically, with its multi-trillion dollar market cap, is built up that high purely on speculation. It is a very fragile store of wealth, especially the higher its market cap becomes.

[exe34]

can you make useful things with abstract art? They're not even good as toilet paper and yet people still buy and trade them.

[chairmansteve]

BTC is used for trade. You know, drugs etc. And money laundering. Sanctions busting. Tax avoidance. It has a lot of utility...

[lesuorac]

BTC is pretty bad for illegal activity since the transactions are public.

You'd be much better off using the US Dollar. Even if it's through a bank like HSBC.

[kerbs]

It is used for those things I agree.

Those things alone do not hold up a $1.5T market cap. I would say they don’t hold up a $1.5B cap either.