Government:   Give me $1000 in gold and I'll give you a piece of paper to represent it.

100 years later, that piece of paper buys 1/100th of what it originally did.


1's and 0's also provide immensely better security and portability than paper.

Hence, bitcoin.


Why is the price down?

Because it got too high for the current level of adoption and understanding.
That doesnt mean it has no value or will never go up again.