Quote from: n0nce on March 21, 2022, 08:07:11 PM

Quote from: slackovic on March 21, 2022, 09:53:45 AM

But you are looking at Bitcoin in the wrong way. Bitcoin is not a representation of something physical. It is Bitcoin. Just like an ounce of gold is an ounce of gold, one Bitcoin is one Bitcoin. There is nothing behind an ounce of gold because it's just an once of gold. It's the same with Bitcoin.

And Bitcoin is not just a number in a database.

This is the absolutely beautiful and stunning, for many people inconceivable (as we see here) thing about Bitcoin. The first time ever, we have a way to digitally store and move real value and not just an 'IOU', a reference pointing to some real value.

That's why the often asked question 'what backs Bitcoin' is so wrong, too. It's very much engrained in most people's way of thought since that's the only thing they've ever known - paper money, totally understandable. But just like you wouldn't ask 'what backs gold' or 'what backs your house', asking about Bitcoin's backing is pointless.

Bitcoin is value, it doesn't represent value. Bitcoins very much do exist, just not the way you're used to. As simple as that.

Yoe are not storing or moving value, but numbers. A number is a concept on quantity of things. A thing is value, not a number. If there's a number "10", next to your name or address, this is suggesting that there are 10 pieces of a thing in your possession. But if that's not true, the number is fake. And that's exactly the case with bitcoin. There's no such thing as bitcoin in the possession of address holder which has a specific number attached to their address. So, blockchain is just a giant collection of fake numbers.