Let's say that we have a database that represents information about ownership of things and has 3 columns (A, B and C) with the following data types: Owner name, Thing quantity and Thing name.
_____A______ ____B____ ______C______
____Alice____ ____2____ ____iPhones___
____ Bob ____ ___20____ ____US Dollars_
___ Steve____ ___15____ ___IBM Shares_
____Peter____ ____2____ ____Bitcoins___
Just as every database, this database is an organized collection of data which provides information about some aspect of reality, in this case the ownership of things. Alice, Bob, Steve and Peter own a specific quantity of iPhones, US Dollars, IBM shares and Bitcoins.
Now, in the first three cases of ownership, column B quantifies some actual thing which resides outside the database. Alice owns actual electronic devices. Bob owns an actual share in the total claims secured by collateral that originated from the total borrowers liabilities in the U.S monetary system. And Steve owns an actual share in the total IBM capital.
But, if we now ask what actual thing outside the database is owned by Peter, we face an inherent contradiction. Namely, there is nothing outside the database since bitcoin is just the name of a number connected to the address, in this case to Peter. In other words, column B and column C are basically the same thing - a number. It is just that column C uses alphabetic symbols, while column B uses numerical symbols. So, Peter owns 2 numbers and Peter owns number 2. But how can someone own a number? The first three rows in our database clearly show that numbers are just means to quantify things, they are not things that are owned. As such, these numbers are valueless on their own, and they can be created out of thin air. On the other hand, electronic devices, borrowers liabilities/collaterals, and company's capital, obviously cannot be created out of thin air. And that is why things (iPhones, US Dollars and IBM Shares) are what have value, not the numbers. Numbers are just symbols that represent/quantify these things and they cannot have value in principle. For e.g. in the case of dollars, it is not the number "20" in the database what Bob owns. He owns a share in the total claims that originated from the total borrowers liabilities. If the total liabilities(debt) in the U.S monetary system is X, Bob owns 20/X of share in claims derived from these liabilities.
But, in the case of bitcoin, Peter literally owns number "2" in the database, since bitcoin(entry in column C) is just a fancy name for the number in column B and it represents nothing outside the database itself. So, since bitcoin is a number while numbers are only representations of values that exist outside the database, not only that bitcoin has zero value but the term "bitcoin's value" is an oxymoron.
