I'm gonna step out on a smaller branch and ask a stupid question ... while I certainly understand why gold (or other valuable metals) is the very real alternative to fiat currency, why would bitcoin also be considered an alternative to fiat currency? Bitcoin is not backed up by any hard assets (gold, silver, or other commodities) is it? I have always thought that Bitcoin is potentially the most ephemeral of all "currencies" ... it's only worth what you can possibly convince some other sucker to actually give you hard assets or valuable services for in return ... right or wrong?

The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence