EOSUnion Blockchain 101|09 Why is digital currency valuable? 区块链讲座第...

Without it, digital currency is simply worthless!

We talked about digital currency repeatedly in the last two classes, which talked about the soaring prices of digital currencies such as Bitcoin and the pursuit of digital currency. But we also know that the essence of digital currency is just a string of codes. Why are they so valuable? Where is their value?

01 History of currency

Before we try understanding the value of the digital currency, let me tell you the history of " currency":

All of our current consuming activities basically use WeChat payment, Alipay, and bank cards to realize the transfer of electronic money. These electronic currencies are essentially the electronicization of national legal currency.

But the beginning of the currency was not like this but in the form of real staffs, such as shells, feathers, animals, gold, and silver. They are treated as generic equivalents because people believe in their rarity and their value is equal to being Exchange the value of the item.

Later, with the increasing frequency of human activities, the shortcomings of precious metals that were difficult to carry were exposed. Then the banknotes came into being, and after generations of generations, they developed into the banknotes we see now. The cost of making these banknotes may be only a few cents, but they can be exchanged for items worth 100 yuan. This is because there is a national credit for endorsement, which makes people believe that this "unworthy" banknote can provide 100 yuan of purchasing power in exchange for 100 yuan items.

No matter in the form of shells, gold, silver, or banknotes, people are willing to trade in these currencies because people believe that they are valuable.

Seeing this, I can say very responsibly that we are close to the truth of the "digital currency value essence" problem, so I will continue to throw three questions for everyone to think about and help everyone find the truth faster.

02 The essence of value

(1) "Diamonds are long-lasting, one is forever circulated". What is the value of diamonds?
(2) As a bag that is used to carry things, why is LV so expensive? What is the value of these brands?
(3) What is the value of the art such as antiques and famous paintings? Why is Leonardo da Vinci's "Savior" worth a price of $450 million?

Diamonds are hard, and they are the hardest substance in the world, but what practical use is it besides making drill bits? So the Jews told a story, and women all over the world believed. From then on, the young boys had to buy all the hard-hearted stones for their beloved women, and then put it on the woman's ring finger under the sight of a whole village.

In the beginning, LV was just a simple court luggage. After 164 years, it developed into a symbol of honor in people's minds. Having an LV is equivalent to having a distinguished identity. The Reason why people pay for the LV brand premium willingly is that they agree on the replacement of LV brand and identity.

Although art has a high appreciation value and scarcity, is this appreciation value worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars? If it weren't because there was a huge collection of art, or if it wasn't because these people believed that their future value would be higher, would it really cost a $450 million price?

From money, diamonds, LV to "Savior", we find that if we don't give value to a thing, there is no inherent "value". If we don't believe that it has value, we won't chase it with money. The value of these things actually stems from our “group consensus”, and this value will continue to increase as the “group consensus” increases. The most intuitive performance is that its price is rising.

To conclude: the essence of value is consensus, the higher the degree of consensus, the greater the value.

03 The essence of the value of digital currency is also the consensus

Some people may argue that the value of money exists because there is a national endorsement, and everyone has to use it because of the government force; while diamonds and LVs exist because they enjoy the emotional experience they bring, and the value of "Savior" is Value-added speculation in the art collection group.

Yes, there are many ways to generate consensus. Violence, emotional experience, and value-added speculation are just some of them. These means lead people to the same cognitive level either rigidly or softly and agree on one of them. Therefore, people are willing to use national currency, willing to buy diamonds for the beloved, and willing to buy LV to show their honor...

Similarly, as we believe that they are valuable, we are willing to hold digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, etc., that is, the consensus of these digital currencies are valuable. Although this consensus may come from the optimistic view of the underlying technology of the blockchain, or a single project, or it may only be for value-added speculation purposes, but it is not important. What is important is that there is the value when everyone believes that it is valuable.

So, we can finally answer the questions we raised at the beginning: Why is digital currency so valuable, and what is its value?

Digital currency is valuable because it has condensed everyone's consensus. And how much this value depends on how strong everyone's consensus is (for example, many of the ICO's air currency values were eventually zero, because they are not recognized by everyone).

没了它，数字货币根本一文不值！

我们前两期反复在谈数字货币，其中谈到比特币等数字货币价格高涨，以及人们对数字货币的追捧。但我们同时也清楚，数字货币其本质不过是一串代码，为什么它们能这么值钱？它们的价值何在？

01 货币的历史

在我们试图理解数字货币的价值之前，我先给大家讲讲“货币”这家伙的由来：

我们现在的各种消费活动，基本都用微信支付、支付宝、银行卡，实现电子货币的转移，这些电子货币本质是国家法币的电子化。

但货币诞生之初并不是这样子的，而是以贝壳、羽毛、牲口、金银的实物货币的形式存在，它们被当做一般等价物，是因为人们相信它们稀有性的特点，其本身价值等于被交换物品的价值。

后来，随着人类活动的日益频繁，贵金属沉重、不易携带的缺点暴露了出来。于是纸币应运而生，再经过一代代的更迭，发展成我们现在所见到的纸币。这些纸币的制作成本可能只有几分钱，却能够换取价值100元的物品，这是因为有国家信用作背书，使得人们相信这“一文不值”的纸币能够提供100元的购买力，换取100元的物品。

不管是以贝壳、金银、还是纸币形式存在，人们之所以愿意使用这些货币进行交易，是因为人们打心底相信它们有价值。

看到这里，我可以很负责任地说，我们快接近“数字货币价值本质”这个问题的真相了，所以接下来我要连续抛出3个问题让大家思考，助力大家更快找到真相。

02 价值的本质

（1）“钻石恒久远，一颗永流传”，钻石的价值本质是什么？
（2）同样是用来装东西的包包、LV凭什么这么贵？这些品牌的价值本质是什么？
（3）古董、名画等艺术品的价值本质是什么？为什么达芬奇《救世主》能拍出4.5亿美元天价？

钻石很硬，世界上最硬的物质，但除了做钻头还有什么实际的用途？于是犹太人讲了一个故事，全世界的女人都信了，从此年轻的男孩们不得不倾其所有为心爱的女人买下一颗代表恒久远的硬石头，然后在某个全村人见证的时刻，戴在女人的无名指上；

LV一开始也只是简单的宫廷行李箱包，经过了164年，它发展成了人们心中的尊贵象征，拥有LV就等同于拥有尊贵身份。正是由于人们认同LV品牌与身份认同的置换，所以心甘情愿的为LV的品牌溢价买单；

虽然艺术品具有极高的鉴赏价值，也有稀缺性，但这种鉴赏价值真的值上千万甚至上亿美金吗？如果不是因为有一个庞大的艺术品收藏群体，如果不是因为这些人相信它们未来的价值会更高，那真的还会拍出4.5亿美元的天价吗？

从货币、钻石、LV到《救世主》，我们发现，如果我们不对一个事物赋予价值，任何事物都没有内在“价值”，如果我们不相信这个事物会有价值，我们就不会用金钱去追逐。这些事物的价值实际上源于我们的“群体共识”，并且这种价值会随着“群体共识”程度的提高而不断提升，最直观的表现就是其价格不断上涨。

这就是我们得出的结论：价值的本质是就是共识，共识程度越高，价值越大。

03 数字货币价值的本质也是共识

也许会有人反驳，货币存在价值是因为背后有国家背书，是靠政府暴力手段强制大家去使用；而钻石、LV存在价值是因为大家享受它们带来的情感体验，《救世主》的价值则是出于艺术品收藏群体的增值投机行为。

没错，共识产生有很多种方式，暴力、情感体验、增值投机都只是其中一种手段。这些手段或强硬或柔软地将人们引导到同一认知层面，并且就其中某一个认知达成一致，所以人们愿意使用国家法币、愿意买钻石送给心爱之人，愿意买LV彰显尊贵......

同理，我们之所以愿意持有比特币、以太坊、EOS等数字货币，也是因为我们相信它们有价值，即达成了“这些数字货币有价值”的共识。虽然这种共识可能来自对区块链底层技术的看好，可能来自对单一项目的看好，也可能仅仅出于增值投机目的，但这都不重要，重要的是大家相信它有价值，那么就有价值。

所以，我们终于可以回答我们在开篇提出的问题了：数字货币为什么这么值钱，其价值本质何在？

数字货币之所以有价值，是因为它具备了或凝结了大家的共识。而这种价值有多大，则取决于大家的共识有多强（比如之前很多ICO的空气币价值最后归零，就是因为它们背后没有被大家认同的东西）。

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EOSUnion Blockchain 101|09 Why is digital currency valuable? 区块链讲座第九期：数字货币为什么有价值？