bitcoin has a real cost of creation via the mining hardware. much like golds underlying cost is in gold mining costs.
because it costs $10's of thousands in electric/hardware to make just one bitcoin. (more precisely hundreds of thousands per 6.25 reward) that gives bitcoin a baseline value. which no one wants to sell below. thus giving bitcoin a good actual store of value.
yes there is the vapour/speculative/bubble premium ontop thats volatile. but thats the same with gold
What you have just explained has made me wonder about something. Do you think that the rise in electricity prices that is happening in many parts of the world, especially where it is being mined the most now like the US, is going to affect the price of Bitcoin? It should, I'd say, even though we are in a bull market I guess it is another factor that will push the price up.
In my own humble view, I think that the rise of electricity prices will not have considerable push-up effect on the price of BTC...the price is always determined by the market forces so it can go up and go down anytime and sometimes for no reason at all. Now, having said that, the electricity prices can affect mainly the profits that can be gained from Bitcoin mining just like any other business as this is a major expense. Right now, the USA has gained the top hand in BTC mining and not anymore China...this can certainly be exerting more demand for power and there is that talk to exploit wasted energy so they can be converted to cash rather than just have them released to the environment.