> Both these things are why Bitcoin works. Bitcoin doesn't require any institution to back it, it's backed by the population. Agreed, that's one of its biggest strengths, no counter-party risk. But that's its downside as well, its value is entirely determined by people choosing it as their crypto, as opposed to one of the hundreds of other cryptos. That is, its value is mostly historical rather than inherent. This is fine for shorter-term use but long-term its value is unreliable.