> Basically, think of it this way: if Bitcoin exchanges were to disappear right now, what would happen to Bitcoin? If Bitcoin doesn't replace all currencies (I

> Basically, think of it this way: if Bitcoin exchanges were to disappear right now, what would happen to Bitcoin? If Bitcoin doesn't replace all currencies (I don't expect it to do that anyway), it can be used as digital gold (in fact I think you can expect higher price increases from this use case, than from every day transactions). Currently I would love to be able to save in gold, but I can't for many reasons. My government banned it, so I can no longer buy it in a trusted bank (if such thing exists). I can't buy it from other individuals like me, because it's difficult to divide, so you can never get the amount you wanted. You can't import it from other countries because you can't hide it from customs. You can't buy it in the black market either, because they will sell you golden bars filled with tungsten. And all this is for buying. When you want to sell it you will have similar problems. Bitcoin fixes all this, and you don't really need exchanges for this. In fact I never used one (international wires are banned). Let me think about the security definition. I don't promise you anything, but I'll give it a try when my mind is clear.