There appears to be solid support for bitcoins from many of you, but I want you to answer this question - Where is the value of bitcoin?  Presently it only is perceived value, not any tangible value (like gold, silver, copper, jewels, oil, etc.) Boil it down, and in reality it is just a bunch of 1s and 0s stuck in some computer chip somewhere on earth. Let's talk reality here folks, not some dope-induced pipe dream from your virtual reality consciousness.  Where is the value of a bitcoin? Is it the fact that it consumes a lot of energy to mine one and prove the crypto hash for more blocks in the chain?  The energy wasted is certainly valuable, but what is the result? (wasted energy). Can not we use other cryptocurrencies (altcoins) to do the same blockchain jobs much more efficiently, consuming less energy?  Or is there only one thing that bitcoin can do better than all the others?  Or is it because it can be traded like stock options or Forex currencies on fragile exchanges all around the globe? What is it? Please help me to understand what is the real value of a bitcoin ??