Actually, it is.


As does bitcoin.


So can wood, plaster, sand, and paper. Yet none of them are considered valuable or useful as a currency or store of wealth.  It is not its craft-ability that gives gold its value.  I know gold-bugs like to fall back on that as a "but see, it has ACTUAL USE" argument, but seriously if a source of gold large enough to make gold as common as iron was suddenly discovered and was easily accessible, do you honestly believe that gold would be any more useful or valuable than any other common metal?


The word "rarity" indicates a limited supply, and the word "precious" indicates a high demand.  You are using fancy words to say that "The driving force behind gold's value is demand for gold".

I can say the same thing about bitcoin using fancy words too: "The driving force behind bitcoin's value is its rarity as a widely adopted decentralized method of electronic value exchange."


And now you are using simple words to say the same thing about bitcoin as you just said about gold.

I can use the same simple words to say the same thing about gold: "The driving force behind gold's value is demand for the limited gold supply."