[passwordreset]

> Bitcoin inherently does not hold any value, it is a ledger.

I just want you to be aware that those 2 sentiments are directly contradictory. A ledger has value -- an online, world-wide, decentralized, distributed, peer-to-peer ledger moreso. Estimate the value of the ledger (this is a significantly different endeavour than estimating market cap), divide that value by the total number of BTC in circulation, and you have estimated the value of a BTC.

[root_axis]

> A ledger has value

Why? Based on what? That's like saying "a state machine has value". That might be true in some contexts, but an arbitrary implementation of a concept is not necessarily valuable. Certainly, the value prospect of the ledger has no relationship to how many cryptotokens the ledger accounts to one's balance (that is to say, buying up cryptotokens is purely speculative because owning more does not make the ledger more useful)

[AgentME]

A ledger that me and another entity (such as a friend I owe money to or a retailer I want to buy from) can both agree on to use to accomplish transactions is pretty handy.

[anonymous5133]

Banks are just giant ledgers as well and theyre worth trillions. Seems like ledgers are valuable indeed.

[jacobreg]

Banks also have money, I think that helps a bit...

[lurker456]

their direct possessions (money, real estate, license, ...) are much smaller then their total value. fractional reserve banking and all that. A significant fraction of their value comes from their reputation (to have an incorruptible ledger), ability to transact and Branding. bitcoin has those as well.

[scottnyc]

I see what you're saying, and that's an interesting way of thinking about the intrinsic value of Bitcoin. I suppose in estimating the value of the ledger you should also consider the negative value contributions to having this particular ledger, such as environmental impact, potential to destabilize governments, expected loss from hacking/user error, etc and see whether that outweighs the benefits of what some may perceive to be positive value.

I suppose what I meant to say is there is technically no money sitting somewhere held for owners of bitcoin to lay claim to.

[marshray]

Unless it is good at ledging things other than Bitcoin itself, your argument that the Bitcoin ledger has inherent value is completely circular.

[DennisP]

The dollar just ledges itself, since it's not backed by gold anymore. Most dollars are just entries in a database somewhere (and I would argue that paper dollars are really a distributed kind of ledger too).

Some people claim the dollar has value because the government accepts it for taxes, but the IMF's SDRs function as currency (within an exclusive population), aren't backed by anything, aren't accepted for taxes by anyone, and are worth $300 billion.