None of the currencies are backed by gold
I'm not out to defend fiat currencies.
Well, if money is a medium of exchange in the strict sense, gold and silver can't be considered money. I can't go to the supermarket and pay with gold or silver.
Because it's not allowed. But in a free market you would be able to pay with gold and silver. Maybe not physical gold and silver, but with redeemable paper notes.
National currencies aren't backed by commodities, but they still are useful as currencies.
Because the government forces people to accept them. If the government forced you to accept squirrel snot, that would be useful too. But it doesn't mean it would survive as money in a free market.
The creation of alternative cryptocurrencies has nothing to do with Bitcoin inflation. They are created to offering features which doesn't exist in Bitcoin, or to just try a different approach. Sometimes they are created just to do a pump-and-dump
But the point is, when people start accepting other cryptocurrencies, the value of the existing ones will drop.
If your concern is fluctuation, well.... Everything fluctuates. there is no currency, commodity, asset, or anything else on the planet whose value doesn't fluctuate relative to other things.
You seem smart enough that you already understand the pros and cons of Bitcoin.
Not sure what exactly you wish to be convinced of or what your point is with this thread.
There are degrees of fluctuation. It's a big problem if I save bitcoins over several years, and then it's value is decreases by maybe 90 percent because it's not backed by physical commodities.
Then don't invest if its too speculative for you, or only invest a small amount.
No one is going to tell you to invest more than you're comfortable with.
What a pointless thread.