Counterpoint & ?'s about Bitcoin not being "Backed by something"

[theman8631]

What does it mean to back a currency?
When a government says it's currency is backed it's roughly saying it can be exchanged as a placeholder for something that isn't just paper but something you actually want.  Like gold.  Right?  You can trust it because it represents something of value.

Bitcoin has nothing it's backed with, you can't get a guarantee it will be exchanged for something of value by some institution.  Other currencies claim to have this guarantee of exchange.  It imbues those currencies with a form of legitimacy bitcoin can't compete with.

Or does it?

To begin with does the perception of "backing" currency in today's world actually have value past the common talking points to really matter?  Do those people believe that the guarantee is even true, do they care if it is?

What value does bitcoin have over this idea which we have had trust in since the creation of fiat money?
We all have a list of reasons we believe in bitcoin, and many of those reasons are unique to bitcoin, not because it's like the other currencies.  Bitcoin unlike other currencies is backed with a sense of non-government control, inflation proofing, and one of the most innovative transaction networks designed.

The initial idea that money only has value because its a placeholder for something weather or not it's even true over time, becomes a trivial idea, there just has to be a good enough reason that the masses declare it to have value.  Bitcoin has enough of those reasons.

The unique benefits of the infrastructure of the bitcoin cryptography backs it inherently, it has the potential to function better then fiat money due to it's unique properties.

Thoughts?

[A L I E N]

BTC is backed by the most powerful computer network in the world. 8x more powerful than the top 500 supercomputers combined..

[Mike Christ]

Governments are backed by people, so when a government backs, say, the dollar, then that means people's backing is transposed onto the dollar.  As I posted in the other thread, a backing is an endorsement; bitcoin is backed by the people who say, "Yes, this is money!"  With every person who claims this by owning, trading and acknowledging that bitcoin has value, this backing becomes stronger.

One thing the world's states can't compete with is the fact that they have a limited amount of users to back their product; bitcoin is a global phenomenon, and as such, it can potentially be backed to a far greater extent than any single nation's currency.

[Athom]

The $ is backed by unmanned drones and our lower & middle class teenagers armed with AR-15's.