From the article "The software that drives bitcoin across a worldwide network of machines also is open source, and because this code shares new currency with those who help run it, the project has created a new class of very rich computer geeks. We call them the bitcoin nouveau riche, and many are sharing their money with their open source brethren."

There isn't any inherent value in Bitcoin, just like there isn't any real value backing any of the currencies of the nations of the world. There is one thing that maintains the value of the currencies of the nations, be they the US Dollar, the British Pound, the Japanese Yen, the European Euro, or any of the others. What keeps these currencies valuable is that the people BELIEVE that they have value.

It's almost the same with Bitcoin. Bitcoin has value for two major reasons, the one supporting the other. The first reason is that the people think that it has value. The reason that the people think that Bitcoin has value is, BITCOIN SUPPORTS FREEDOM, INHERENTLY.

It took the Federal Reserve Bank a long time with a lot of backing to get where it is today. In a matter of 1 year Bitcoin has gone from almost nothing to starting to replace all the currencies of the world. Bitcoin has a long way to go, but it might not be as long as a lot of people think.

In 2013 the Foreign Currency Exchange (Forex) at times traded over $5 trillion worth of currency per day - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/05/bis-survey-volumes-idUSL6N0GZ34R20130905. In its best month ever, Bitcoin probably didn't trade $5 billion the whole month - something like $30,000 times or more weaker than the Forex.

Yet, it has taken the Forex 15 years to go from $3 trillion a day to $5 trillion a day. The fact that Bitcoin went from about $12.50 a bitcoin in November, 2012, to almost $1250 per bitcoin in November, 2013, shows that Bitcoin's move is way stronger than that of the fiat currencies.