Today I realized that Proof-of-Work #cryptocurrency is yet another way to pin a currency's value on a corresponding physical resource, just like the Gold Standard was. As a result the sky-rocketing dollar price of Bitcoins isn't entirely speculative, the Bitcoin algorithm demands more work to mine any subsequent unit of currency, making it more valuable in dollars because of the invested resources. To me it seems like the limit to this system is when the resource supply won't be able to meet the algorithmically ever-increasing demand, just like why the Gold Standard was eventually dropped. I expect the Bitcoin value to plummet in such an event.

I'm no expert, though, feel free to prove me wrong!