Is Bitcoin in any way valuable?

[DanTex]

36. We already have a currency "not based on traditional sources".

That would be the US Dollar. It is not based on gold or petroleum. It is fiat money. It has no inherent value. Incidentally, gold doesn't have too much inherent value either. It has some, but most of the value of gold is also due to the fact that it is in limited supply, and people think it is valuable. But the industrial uses for gold don't justify it's current market price.

The answer to your question is that bitcoins are valuable if people think they are valuable. Same as any other currency. If it catches on, and becomes a currency in wide use, then it will be very valuable. If not, then it will be worthless. It probably won't, so it's probably worthless, but who knows.

But it's not exactly a con game. The supply of bitcoins is limited mathematically. This is one thing that libertarians like about it. There is no federal reserve determining how many bitcoins there are.