Famous NYU valuation professor on how to value bitcoin:
http://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-bitcoin-boom...
http://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-bitcoin-boom...
The reason it cannot be valued or invested-in is that it is a currency, and as such it only has a price. The difference is a bit murky to me (value v. price) but I think it's because as a currency it has a 'fiat' kinda representation.
He has a solid set of valuation videos on YouTube and offers a large library of finance teaching materials that most business students are sure to encounter during their studies.
> The only exception that I can think off is that if it becomes a necessary component of smart contracts, it could take on the role of a commodity; that may be ethereum's saving grace, since it has been marketed less as a currency and more as a smart contracting lubricant.
This applies to bitcoin too, but he doesn't seem to be aware of it. So when he later claims
> You cannot value Bitcoin, you can only price it: This follows from the acceptance that Bitcoin is a currency, not an asset or a commodity. Any one who claims to value Bitcoin either has a very different definition of value than I do or is just making up stuff as he or she goes along.
It's just not true. There is obviously some actual inherent value to being able to do escrow via multisig rather than via mutual complete trust in some third party. You can argue that the value is very low, but obviously there's some inherent value to the system.
People don't buy technology, they buy the experiences technology creates.
If the price remains this volatile I have no reason to sell it, or to use it as a currency to purchase goods and services. The real problem is that the technology wasn't designed to increase the value of the coin, it was designed to create a currency for use in purchasing goods and services. In other words, if I can't use the technology for what it was intended for (purchasing goods and services) than I can't experience what the technology creates.