In a recent hearing held by the US House of Representatives Small Business Committee discussing the potential impact that widespread Bitcoin adoption could have on small businesses, it seems to have been taken for granted that the digital currency doesn’t have any actual value on its own. “Bitcoins are a form of virtual currency first introduced in 2008 that allows users to exchange value digitally through the Internet,” the Committee wrote in its summary yesterday. “Despite not being backed by a government or holding any intrinsic value of their own, Bitcoins are growing as an alternative payment system.” Committee Chairman Representative…