>> that value is in allowing people to make exchanges they wouldn't otherwise be able to make.
Well, you could say the exact same about every currency. If you are a chicken farmer, it is easier to buy a pound of pork for $5 than trying to trade your chickens for a slab of a pig (i.e. barter). All currencies provide value, since they are a lot easier than barter. The question is not that, it is whether or not they are based on something of inherent value.
Well, you could say the exact same about every currency.
There is an online market (of goods) built around BTC because of its particular properties. This market wouldn't exist without it. You can't sub in barter or gold or most other forms of money, and especially not anything that leaves a record.
The nonsense argument about BTC being a fiat currency is confused. There is an authority in a sense that dictates the mechanics (but I see it much like the 'rules' for determining what is and isn't gold.) However there is no authority that confers value of any kind to the currency.
Well, you could say the exact same about every currency. If you are a chicken farmer, it is easier to buy a pound of pork for $5 than trying to trade your chickens for a slab of a pig (i.e. barter). All currencies provide value, since they are a lot easier than barter. The question is not that, it is whether or not they are based on something of inherent value.