[miracle2k]

But that doesn't seem to square with your GP post in my mind. If cigarettes went away, the world will keep moving just fine. They don't need to exist.

But you posit that people choosing cigarettes provides some value, despite the negative effects. Why is there no value than in people being able to chose a money/investment vehicle they believe to be to their benefit?

[FlownScepter]

> Why is there no value than in people being able to chose a money/investment vehicle they believe to be to their benefit?

Because the only thing generated is fake money on a spreadsheet. There is no product, there is only consumption of resources to generate nothing.

For all of what's involved here, you could just pull the same amount of money out of thin air, deposit it in their IRA, and nothing changes, apart from way, WAY less energy consumption.

[miracle2k]

I think when banks used to issue private money, that was a product. People need a money instrument. In that way, Bitcoin is a (maybe bad) product.