What troubles me personally is that all the talk around Bitcoin at the moment is of Bitcoin as an investment opportunity. I'm personally more excited by Bitcoin

What troubles me personally is that all the talk around Bitcoin at the moment is of Bitcoin as an investment opportunity. I'm personally more excited by Bitcoins value as a currency. I think the most salient point in this article is this > Almost every good one can purchase with Bitcoins is actually priced in dollars and sold at a Bitcoin price reflecting the prevailing exchange rate. So there is almost no Bitcoin frame of reference independent of the Bitcoin-dollar exchange rate. For me this is Bitcoins biggest weakness, the notion that it's true value can only be unlocked when converted back into "real" currency. I'm not sure what the solution is to this problem, or if there can ever be one. I am reminded though of Brazil's unconventional solution to their hyper-inflation problems, and it feels like there's a parallel in there somewhere... http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazil http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake...