Currency originally came about to facilitate trade, allowing society to move past barter and the double coincidence of wants. It has evolved over time to be more convenient, resulting in its present paper state. Inherently, that paper has little value other than the fact that everyone else thinks it has value and the government requires it be accepted to fulfill financial obligations. In that sense, it is a usefully shared representation of value. The libertarians in the room would say it’s a usefully shared illusion of value, going back to the idea the paper itself is worth little. Bitcoin is
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