[sfjailbird]

What is Google public stock backed by? It buys no influence and yields no dividend, and Larry and Sergei have said it will stay that way, yet investors are happy to pay $800 for a symbolic piece (costing 25 times the share of earnings it represents, useless as that is without dividends).

[dhosek]

Which is one reason that I'm not buying stock. Of course even Groupon stock might when the company fails still yield some Aeron chairs and cubicle dividers. There is a something behind any (non-scam) stock. The same cannot be said about Bitcoin. If I had a bitcoin I would sell it as quickly as I could.

[betterunix]

"What is Google public stock backed by?"

The equity of Google -- if the company is liquidated, stockholders are entitled to the proceeds after bondholders have been paid. You can read the prospectus if you are curious about what a share of a company's stock actually means.