Article does raise some interesting questions regarding pure speculators. If people aren't ultimately spending their bitcoins it will be virtually impossible for the economy to continue this growth rate I suspect. Hoping not but it seems the only reason people are purchasing any bitcoin nowadays is with the expectation that it will hit >$2000 by the end of the year or something and increasingly doesn't appear to be the case sadly.
That's not entirely accurate. People don't spend gold, they hold it as a speculative hedge against inflation. It, like bitcoin, only has value because people decide it has a certain value. Regardless of what Peter Schiff says, gold's "intrinsic" value is zero, just like everything else. Nothing has a predestined value.
Bitcoin's use as a value transfer system only influences value if people think of holding bitcoins as holding tokens/ shares in a Distributed Autonomous Corporation that supports that value transfer system. I think this will one day be a more important factor in price. But right now, it's mostly speculative, and that's ok. Bitcoin is already more useful and scarce than gold. It's just not physical and doesn't have thousands of years backing it.
Also, you can toss out everything I just said and consider this. Dell and NewEgg are both offering 10% discounts for paying with bitcoin. Overstock is investing 10% of its profits from bitcoin sales into bitcoin development. I see an emerging trend.
Patience.
