I can name 5 reasons why bitcoin can not be called a bubble:
1. The legal exchange facility;
2. When bitcoin has gained popularity, the potential demand for it from new investors is huge;
3. Demand from commercial structures;
4. The number of bitcoins is limited;
5. Preservation of wealth in troubled economies.
None of these explains why Bitcoin
can't be a bubble.
1. Legal exchange facility. What does this even mean? It's either an incomplete thought, or perhaps a misnomer of something that may actually exist, but either those words don't disprove the Bitcoin bubble claim.
2. Popularity. Something being popular doesn't mean it's not a bubble. In fact, it's more likely that because something increases in popularity quickly it
is a bubble. Bitcoin certainly fits this as people rush in trying to make easy money. Bitcoin's popularity is owed to the mania around people trying to get rich quick. That's prime bubble territory. Nobody can be certain right now that Bitcoin's popularity isn't a fad. You're speculating it's not, which is why buying Bitcoin is more speculating than investing.
3. Demand from commercial structures. Lol, please. There's virtually no commercial demand for a Bitcoin as an alternative to the dollar. Institutionally, something like Ripple is far more likely to eventually be used than Bitcoin for business purposes in the financial sector. That's not to say there won't eventually be commercial demand, but there certainly isn't now and therefore certainly no proof this isn't a bubble.
4. Limited supply. Plenty of things have a limited supply, but if they suddenly shot up in price because of mass delusional mania, they would be a bubble too. Limited supply doesn't mean something isn't a bubble.
5. Preservation of wealth in troubled economies. "In troubled economies" is the operative phrase here. As long as there is a stable world economic system, Bitcoin may have utility for certain emerging economies with weak and undependable local currencies. But if the US itself suffers a massive economic meltdown, Bitcoin dies in the crib because nobody is going to hold or seek a purely speculative asset when everything is falling apart. But the
speculation that Bitcoin
may eventually have utility in such a limited scope for emerging economies certainly doesn't prove it's not a bubble.