You can use any other cryptocurrency as a transfer for value, it will just come with increased fees due to a need to exchange it to btc and than to fiat, if it's not possible to convert it to fiat directly (right now you can only do this for top altcoins, like Ethereum or Dash). What makes Bitcoin special is the number of nodes and mining power behind it's network, it serves as insurance that your transfer won't get hijacked, or someone will manipulate the blockchain.