The energy and miners need be there (the coin economics do not work without it),
Hey RP, may be a little off topic, but can you point me to a thread that explains this more thoroughly? I think I understand why the miners need to be there - what about the energy?
Those factors exist to create difficulty in creation which turn controls the supply and distribution.
Basically it makes bitcoins rare and difficult to produce and because they are hard to produce or counterfeit they are useful as a medium of exchange. If you could mint a bitcoin by simply taking a piece of paper and writing bitcoin on it anyone could make them and would, rendering the unit of account useless for exchange.