There are really two aspects to the term "currency" here, and you're kinda of right only with respect to one of them. For one thing, Bitcoin (or any other digi

There are really two aspects to the term "currency" here, and you're kinda of right only with respect to one of them. For one thing, Bitcoin (or any other digital currency) serves as an online replacement for cash. In that regard, lack of consumer protection is actually a feature; the possibility of chargeback is precisely what makes existing payment systems so exceedingly cumbersome. In fact, the fact that transactions are final (modulo contractual disputes) is exactly what you want in a large number of cases. Obviously, as with real world dollar bills, you should never have more of a digital currency on hand than you can afford to lose, precisely because it can be lost or stolen. But the fact that physical money can be stolen isn't a bug, either. Nobody expects consumer protection against loss of physical money (outside of contract law and criminal laws against fraud or theft, of course, but those work for digital currencies also). The other aspect is that of Bitcoin as a replacement for the dollar, the Euro, the Yen, etc. with built-in deflation because some people don't trust fiat currencies. This is kook territory and potentially worrisome, though still not necessarily a consumer protection issue: governments write consumer protection laws not for currencies, but for payment instruments, investment schemes, or contractual arrangements between businesses and individuals. And there's no reason why legislatures can't in principle also write laws to regulate Bitcoin traders.