How did bitcoin obtain it's value?

[turvarya]

You put far too much focus on governments. Is this how things are taught these days, government needs to allow everything first in order for us to be able to do it?

We are all born free, able to do what we want. It is government that steps in and prevents us from doing certain things.  Not the other way around.

I wasn't trying to put to much emphasis on governments. I was only trying to learn more about how bitcoin received it's permission to be able to exchange it into a nations currency.

I mean lets be honest, if the government wanted to shut down bitcoin tomorrow they could. They might not be able to shut down the exchanging of a paintings value exchanging hands between two people but they certainly can shut down a virtual currencies method of exchanging it into there currency.

Isn't that what Russia is doing or has done?

They can't shut it down. They can make it illegal, sure, but that is by far not the same as shutting it down.
The question is how they make it illegal. It's not like they can just pass a law and say it is illegal. That's not how laws work, since somebody could challenge that law and say it is e.g. against the human right of free speech to forbid bitcoins and a supreme court would just invalid the law.
Countries like Russian are a whole other story.

[bcoinbilly]

You put far too much focus on governments. Is this how things are taught these days, government needs to allow everything first in order for us to be able to do it?

We are all born free, able to do what we want. It is government that steps in and prevents us from doing certain things.  Not the other way around.

I wasn't trying to put to much emphasis on governments. I was only trying to learn more about how bitcoin received it's permission to be able to exchange it into a nations currency.

I mean lets be honest, if the government wanted to shut down bitcoin tomorrow they could. They might not be able to shut down the exchanging of a paintings value exchanging hands between two people but they certainly can shut down a virtual currencies method of exchanging it into there currency.

Isn't that what Russia is doing or has done?

If you need a government's permission on how to use their currency...why use their currency?

Why use their currency at all?

[bcoinbilly]

You put far too much focus on governments. Is this how things are taught these days, government needs to allow everything first in order for us to be able to do it?

We are all born free, able to do what we want. It is government that steps in and prevents us from doing certain things.  Not the other way around.

I wasn't trying to put to much emphasis on governments. I was only trying to learn more about how bitcoin received it's permission to be able to exchange it into a nations currency.

I mean lets be honest, if the government wanted to shut down bitcoin tomorrow they could. They might not be able to shut down the exchanging of a paintings value exchanging hands between two people but they certainly can shut down a virtual currencies method of exchanging it into there currency.

Isn't that what Russia is doing or has done?

They can't shut it down. They can make it illegal, sure, but that is by far not the same as shutting it down.
The question is how they make it illegal. It's not like they can just pass a law and say it is illegal. That's not how laws work, since somebody could challenge that law and say it is e.g. against the human right of free speech to forbid bitcoins and a supreme court would just invalid the law.
Countries like Russian are a whole other story.

If governments made it illegal, then they can impose penalties and laws to enforce it. This could mean jail time, fines, etc.

Its illegal to buy and sell crack cocaine but people still do it and when they get caught they receive a penalty.

[Elwar]

You put far too much focus on governments. Is this how things are taught these days, government needs to allow everything first in order for us to be able to do it?

We are all born free, able to do what we want. It is government that steps in and prevents us from doing certain things.  Not the other way around.

I wasn't trying to put to much emphasis on governments. I was only trying to learn more about how bitcoin received it's permission to be able to exchange it into a nations currency.

I mean lets be honest, if the government wanted to shut down bitcoin tomorrow they could. They might not be able to shut down the exchanging of a paintings value exchanging hands between two people but they certainly can shut down a virtual currencies method of exchanging it into there currency.

Isn't that what Russia is doing or has done?

If you need a government's permission on how to use their currency...why use their currency?

Why use their currency at all?

Not much reason for it. I'm working via bitwage.co to get paid in bitcoins so I'll have that part taken care of.

[DarkLister]

This might seem a bit obvious, but it would be so much easier to get bitcoin if I got paid in it.  Now to convince my boss...

[bitkilo]

What gives btc its value is it supply and demand, there is only a limited supply of bitcoins (21m) and people want what they can get.
Interest in mining and trading is what first probably attracted people then retailers got involved people started to realise its purchasing power, retailers soon knew if they accepted btc then there was a community that wanted it and would pay for it.
Fiat money that we all use now is nothing but paper really but we still know it has value because we know what we can get for say $10, and that's not much these days.

If you and your friends came out with your own currency then you need to convince people that it is worth something, in most cases it will turn out more like a token than currency.
Even tulip bulbs once had good value.

[turvarya]

You put far too much focus on governments. Is this how things are taught these days, government needs to allow everything first in order for us to be able to do it?

We are all born free, able to do what we want. It is government that steps in and prevents us from doing certain things.  Not the other way around.

I wasn't trying to put to much emphasis on governments. I was only trying to learn more about how bitcoin received it's permission to be able to exchange it into a nations currency.

I mean lets be honest, if the government wanted to shut down bitcoin tomorrow they could. They might not be able to shut down the exchanging of a paintings value exchanging hands between two people but they certainly can shut down a virtual currencies method of exchanging it into there currency.

Isn't that what Russia is doing or has done?

They can't shut it down. They can make it illegal, sure, but that is by far not the same as shutting it down.
The question is how they make it illegal. It's not like they can just pass a law and say it is illegal. That's not how laws work, since somebody could challenge that law and say it is e.g. against the human right of free speech to forbid bitcoins and a supreme court would just invalid the law.
Countries like Russian are a whole other story.

If governments made it illegal, then they can impose penalties and laws to enforce it. This could mean jail time, fines, etc.

Its illegal to buy and sell crack cocaine but people still do it and when they get caught they receive a penalty.

Exactly my point: Crack trade is illegal but by far not shutdown.

[hilariousandco]

This might seem a bit obvious, but it would be so much easier to get bitcoin if I got paid in it.  Now to convince my boss...

If you can't convince your boss why not just buy some with your wage packet every month? It's not exactly difficult to buy bitcoins from the forum here and you can bypass all the bs with exchanges. Use an escrow if you're hesitant about sending money.

[bcoinbilly]

You put far too much focus on governments. Is this how things are taught these days, government needs to allow everything first in order for us to be able to do it?

We are all born free, able to do what we want. It is government that steps in and prevents us from doing certain things.  Not the other way around.

I wasn't trying to put to much emphasis on governments. I was only trying to learn more about how bitcoin received it's permission to be able to exchange it into a nations currency.

I mean lets be honest, if the government wanted to shut down bitcoin tomorrow they could. They might not be able to shut down the exchanging of a paintings value exchanging hands between two people but they certainly can shut down a virtual currencies method of exchanging it into there currency.

Isn't that what Russia is doing or has done?

If you need a government's permission on how to use their currency...why use their currency?

Why use their currency at all?

Not much reason for it. I'm working via bitwage.co to get paid in bitcoins so I'll have that part taken care of.

One of the lucky ones. Hopefully I can join you in the near future 

[hilariousandco]

Chinese

what's your meaning?

Because of China allegedly buying a lot of the coins that pushed the price up.

[jdany]

For a period of time, the value was so small that BTC were thrown around in jest.

[jehst]

Aug. 27, 2010:

As a thought experiment, imagine there was a base metal as scarce as gold but with the following properties:
– boring grey in colour
– not a good conductor of electricity
– not particularly strong, but not ductile or easily malleable either
– not useful for any practical or ornamental purpose
and one special, magical property:
– can be transported over a communications channel

If it somehow acquired any value at all for whatever reason, then anyone wanting to transfer wealth over a long distance could buy some, transmit it, and have the recipient sell it.
Maybe it could get an initial value circularly as you’ve suggested, by people foreseeing its potential usefulness for exchange. (I would definitely want some) Maybe collectors, any random reason could spark it.

- Satoshi Nakamoto

[herzmeister]

If you bought the internet domain name sex.com in the early 1990ies, you'd be a rich man today.

You can't touch it (ahem), it's entirely virtual, and it obtained its value without any government decree.

Bitcoins are also a virtual good, limited in amount, thus intrinsically valuable, they're just more fungible than internet domain names (and less centralized, not administered through the centralized DNS by organizations like the ICANN).

[Alexunited]

It is just the way it is, there was much hype around btc so demand grew and people paid over the odds.

[sandykho47]

I think because there are more pump than dump & great currency innovation.
Or because they heard bitcoin will success 

[Flashman]

One word, math. Math designed it, math secures it, math determines it's rise in the market. If you had some math background and truly understood that regular currency was a non-inviolable IOU, the first time you came across bitcoin and looked at it's fundamentals, you'd be grinning from ear to ear, it just makes it inevitable.

[bornil267645]

Probably due to the curiousness of the government that got so much attention to BTC. And the price went up. Well that's my opinion.

[Rampton]

Supply and demand is the simplest answer. I don't think bitcoin has reached anywhere near its potential at the moment. I can see big things for it in the future once more people get on board around the world.

[Towlie]

If you bought the internet domain name sex.com in the early 1990ies, you'd be a rich man today.

You can't touch it (ahem), it's entirely virtual, and it obtained its value without any government decree.

Bitcoins are also a virtual good, limited in amount, thus intrinsically valuable, they're just more fungible than internet domain names (and less centralized, not administered through the centralized DNS by organizations like the ICANN).

Like everything it's only worth what people will pay. You could have the most expensive painting in the world, but if you want to sell it and people aren't offering you what you paid for it then it's just not worth that much anymore.

[pitham1]

Power bills, difficulty rate, mining rigs cost etc

I mean the permissions to be able to transfer that bitcoin value into USD - Doesn't the governments have to allow that bitcoin value to be allowed to transfer into there currency? Does this mean there is significant government involvement in bitcoin since they allow it to be traded into the nations currency?

I guess any asset could be transferred into USD. That doesn't require the government's permission.