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I saw too many questions about bitcoin losing value.

But in my view, 21 million bitcoins is relatively less money (ie., units) than other currencies. Why wouldn't Bitcoin's value rise simply due to supply/demand when it is used more widely?

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H_7
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    You say "speculation" but it seems that you are asking if the value of bitcoins will rise simply due to supply/demand when it is used more widely. It's not clear what you are asking, but anyway it seems to invite speculative answers so I'm voting to close this. – D.H. Oct 01 '11 at 16:19
  • @ D.H. - Sorry about this. I'm foreign. Already edited. Should you please remove the vote if now it's good? Oh, sure. It's good for you now? – H_7 Oct 01 '11 at 16:25
  • Could it be possible that you the verb in the title? :P – nanotube Oct 03 '11 at 03:10
  • @D.H. - if this title was changed to "Why do some people believe Bitcoin's value could increase in the future", could this be reopened? I think the question with the new title is valid. – ripper234 Jan 02 '12 at 06:30
  • I actually downvoted it before, but I think it's important to explain why some people believe there's a chance for this. With the new title, the answers need not speculate, but just explain an objective fact - that some people believe some thing. – ripper234 Jan 02 '12 at 06:31
  • @ripper234: Your title would make it more objective, but it just seems like a very basic question to me. Why do people believe that anything will increase in value? Probably because there is something good about it, something that people want/need. It seems more like a question about what it is about Bitcoin that makes it better or more useful than other currencies. I think that we should just leave this closed. If we change the question too much the answers won't make sense anyway. – D.H. Jan 02 '12 at 11:27

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Because there is no guarantee that bitcoin will be in demand in the future. Here's an example, in a recent Gawker article they put "(RIP)" when naming Bitcoin .. as if it had died. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/09/is-digital-money-the-new-way-to-buy-drugs

Of course, the existing $35 million or so valuation of the currency come from those speculating that the value of the currency will at some point in the future buy more than it will today.

Whether or not this will be a stratospheric rise nobody knows but it isn't unprecedented, just not typical nor expected by most. But there are those, such as Rick Falvinge, who believe it. Rick describes his thoughts here:

Stephen Gornick
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The value will definitely rise if Bitcoins are ever used widely. But there's no guarantee that will ever happen. Even if you think crytpo-currencies are awesome and that human beings will be using something like them for centuries, it' still entirely possible that it will not be Bitcoins but some similar crypto-currency.

It is likely that almost all of the current value of Bitcoins comes from speculation. In fact, the recent drop from around $11 to around $5 is likely due to people thinking the chances of Bitcoins becoming mainstream are lower.

The point is, widespread adoption of Bitcoin in the future is very far from a sure thing -- even if you think widespread adoption of crypto-currencies is a sure thing.

David Schwartz
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