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Bitcoin, like the US Dollar or any other fiat currency, has a nonzero value mostly because it possesses certain traits that make it a better payment system in select circumstances than any competing payment system. Those traits include fungibility, divisibility, durability, transferability, and convenience. (There are a few more traits that some people would add, but that’s a discussion I don’t want to get into here.) The point is that if person A needs to make a payment to person B, they may decide to use bitcoin for the transfer, not because they have any particular affinity for or belief in bitcoin, but because it is of some UTILITY to do so.
Their decision to use bitcoin does not necessarily require them to understand bitcoin, or believe in the future of bitcoin, or want to store their wealth in bitcoin, or endorse any political or economic theory that is popular among many early bitcoin adopters. If they fear that bitcoin is going to lose value over time, then person A can buy bitcoin immediately before sending it to person B, who can immediately sell it. Of course, there is a risk that bitcoin could lose value during the short time it takes to make the transfer, but payment processors like Coinbase insure against this risk (in exchange for the commission they make when you buy or sell bitcoin on their platform). (Think of this the next time you see that 15 minute timer when you purchase something online with bitcoin.)
Despite the associated costs, including not only the above mentioned insurance against risk of fluctuating value but also the much more costly (albeit one time only) inconvenience of learning a new system, there are circumstances in which it is either the cheapest option, and/or the fastest option, and/or in some cases, the only option. It is not necessary for bitcoin to be the best option in all circumstances, only in some circumstances. As long as this is true, there will be upward pressure on the price. This is the crux of understanding why bitcoin’s value is not zero, and will never be zero, as long as the set of circumstances in which bitcoin is the payment system of choice is not empty.
Some people are tormented by the thought that this is circular reasoning: It has nonzero value because it is useful as a payment system, but one of the prerequisites of being useful as a payment system is that it has nonzero value. But it’s really not the logical trap that it might appear at first glance. It’s just not. Unless you enjoy being intellectually tormented, in which case, have fun with that.
(If you’re having trouble getting out of the trap, consider this: bitcoin has nonzero value as long as at least one person in the entire world is willing to buy it, for whatever reason, whether that reason makes any sense at all to you or not. Once that one crazy person gets it up in the air, the above-mentioned upward pressure takes over, like the wings of an airplane. If it needed a crazy person to get it kickstarted, so be it. But I don’t think it did; so I would consider this to be a trivial explanation. A perfectly sane person might buy it initially, betting on the fact that it will eventually take off.)
Some will point out that bitcoin has value as a way to store wealth, but that would not be true if it were not for the fact that it independently has nonzero value as a payment system. Once its value as a payment system is understood, only then can we understand why it also has value as a store of wealth. Most of the price today is due to investors who use it to store value because they believe it will be much more widely used in the future than it is today. (And on top of that, speculators who presumably have some understanding of the psychology of the markets.)
Some people respond to the statement that the US Dollar holds value because it is “backed by the full faith and credit of the US government” by arguing that bitcoin has value because bitcoin is “backed by math.” Neither of those explanations are satisfying. Both are hand wavey and are designed to appeal to the emotion rather than to the intellect. I spent many years wondering why fiat currency had any value at all. I find it ironic that it was bitcoin that taught me the answer to that question! Bitcoin and fiat currency have nonzero, nontrivial value for exactly the same reason: they are each integral components of the best (or the only) payment system available (each being the best in their own particular set of circumstances).
Today, the set of circumstances in which bitcoin is the payment system of choice is small. But as it gets easier to use, that set grows larger. It will be exciting to watch.