The value of bitcoin

American economist Paul Krugman has recently asked a question that interests many skeptics: where does the value of bitcoin get a financial unit and what is bitcoin value today? Currently the value of bitcoins as a currency can be calculated by summing savings from the use of the payment system Bitcoin.

If one bitcoin is used for 10 transactions per year with an average value of $ 100, the bitcoin network is 3 percent cheaper than any other alternative. This trend continues for 10 years, increasing the value of bitcoin to $ 300. Bitcoin doesn't even need to replace the local currency. So how do bitcoins get their value?

In the first year of system operation almost no transactions were performed, and people spent their efforts on the accumulation of bitcoins. There can be only two possible reasons:

1. Value as a collector's item (the same principle as the activities of people who are collecting rare metals, stones, shells, stamps, paintings and baseball cards).

2. Value, which is based on the fact that other people will consider your collectibles valuable and will want to buy it, thus enriching the previous owner. Gold is valuable for these very reasons. Not because it's shiny (many things are shiny), but because it is rare, durable, mobile and available for collecting. And in the hands of the owner, it can only increase your value directly proportional to the number of people willing to get it.

When a collectible becomes valuable, it can become money. When bitcoins became valuable, you could take advantage of their excellent system for conducting financial transactions. However, the system remains the same, regardless of how many people participate in it. Therefore, the system itself cannot be responsible for those costs which people are investing in bitcoins.