Comment by freefrancisco

"Bitcoin's only real value in its ability to ultimately be sold for a fiat currency" You have that backwards, a fiat currency's only real value is in its ability to ultimately be exchanged for goods and services that you need or want, for things of actual value. So if bitcoin is not directly exchangeable for dollars but it is exchangeable for other things, it doesn't ultimately matter. The no arbitrage conditions of financial markets guarantees that even if bitcoin is not tradeable for dollars directly, it will preserve its value if it is easily tradeable for something of actual value.