Quote from: Coinbanker on August 05, 2015, 04:39:37 PM

My understandings of bitcoin backup by following things:
1. electricty.
2. limited supply - rareness - /fiat cant have it/
3. blockchain network - /fiat cant have it/
4. math - unbreakable, no forgery, speed of light. you cant break the math unless god.
5. people and idea - people's money, not property of any corporations and government, that makes ultimate world currency

Agree with all of these, what I'm not clear on is whether bitcoin needs to be backed by electricity (since it is backed by the other things). I understand that the mining process puts a price on the blockchain and is a security feature, but on the other hand it is wasteful of electricity! So is this there just so that bitcoin will be backed by something real (i.e. electricity and computational power)? Is it necessary? And could other approaches that require less energy (e.g. Litecoin, proof-of-stake) work just as well?