Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 01:43:05 AM

Quote from: DannyHamilton on December 20, 2013, 12:50:39 AM

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 12:32:18 AM

Gold is not comparable to BTC.

Actually, it is.

Comparisons like these lead to nothing but confusion with new bitcoiners.
Gold has real value due to being a tangible item of real rarity.
BTC has no value outside of its currency aspect.

BTC has real value due to being a usable concept with real rarity.

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 01:43:05 AM

Quote from: DannyHamilton on December 20, 2013, 12:50:39 AM

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 12:32:18 AM

Gold can be used to craft items, btc cannot.

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?

You want a copper wedding ring?
Yes, Gold has real value in the things crafted from it.

The only reason you want a gold wedding ring and not a copper one is because gold is rare. If copper were rare and gold were plentiful, then gold wouldn't have any more "real value" than copper has today. Value is determined by supply and demand. It doesn't matter if you are talking about gold, or bitcoin. That economic principal isn't any different.

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 01:43:05 AM

Quote from: DannyHamilton on December 20, 2013, 12:50:39 AM

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 12:32:18 AM

The driving force behind golds value is its rarity as a precious 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."

I meant what I said, Gold is a precious metal that has rarity, only so much gold is available.

Bitcoin has no value outside of what you can buy with it.

And I meant what I said. Bitcoin is a precious concept that has rarity, only so much bitcoin available.

Gold has no value outside of what you can exchange it for (buy with it).

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 01:43:05 AM

Quote from: DannyHamilton on December 20, 2013, 12:50:39 AM

Quote from: 7Priest7 on December 20, 2013, 12:32:18 AM

The driving force behind btc value is demand for btc.

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."

This is inaccurate.
Gold is used to ensure good connections on high end electronics.
Gold is the goto metal for wedding/engagement rings.
Gold has much value outside of the demand for gold.

Gold is the goto metal for wedding/engagement rings only because it is rare.

The electronic use of gold contributes less to its value than the use of copper in household wiring contributes to the value of copper. In other words, practically nothing. If gold wasn't rare, high end electronics companies would be paying pennies per kilogram for gold.

To say that anything other than food, potable water, or shelter has value outside the demand for it is to completely overlook what the word value means.