Bitcoin Forum

"Though Bitcoin payments are fast, they are not instantaneous. It typically takes over 10 minutes to clear a transaction, which must be recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain"
Bitcoin is a protocol for money... it's a platform meant to be built on top of. That means in the future you will see things being built on top of it that will take transactions off the blockchain. For instance an exchange does this. When you buy dollars on mt gox you don't have to wait 10 minutes. The transaction is off the blockchain... it's instant. Additionally transactions can happen near instantly it just depends on the risk you are willing to take. A transaction will propagate across the network faster than 8 minutes but it won't be included in a block yet. If you are a company like newegg you can accept the transaction instantly because you aren't shipping the item immediately anyway . So many transactions could be done fast even without a layer on top of the protocol. One last thing....... when you buy with a credit card even though the transaction seems instantaneous the funds don't actually arrive to the merchant for a week or more later. When a bitcoin transaction is included in the block chain the funds have arrived. For merchants that is a clear win.
"Consumers can't unilaterally undo a Bitcoin transaction like they can a credit card payment. However, the Bitcoin protocol is being updated to better facilitate refunds initiated by the merchant."
The answer to this is related to my previous answer. A transaction is irreversible but that doesn't mean something can't be built on top. For instance if ebay wanted to accept bitcoins they could have users upload bitcoin funds and do transfers internally off the block chain. In this way they could control and reverse transactions. And as a side note.... it is in a merchants best interest to act in an honest manner. It is in a consumers best interest to act in a malicious manner. It makes more sense to have the burden of trust placed on customers rather than merchants because of these natural signals. A merchant has reviews. They need to keep a positive image to retain customers. Customers don't have reviews. It is in their best interest to defraud merchants. Why do people think that is okay? Also irreversible transactions allows for new business models that really couldn't be viable before. For instance the sale of virtual goods. If you tried to sell something like WoW gold on ebay the merchant easily gets scammed so it is not a viable business model. With bitcoin... transactions are irreversible and you can build things on top of the blockchain that can do reversals so it is the best of both worlds.
" Governments typically do not accept taxes in anything other than the official currency, but there are efforts to introduce bitcoin into the mix. E-Gov Link, for example, accepts bitcoins for parking tickets and other fees."
Well I don't see this one changing any time soon unfortunately. In a truly free market currencies would be allowed to compete with each other and a government should simply accept currencies at their current exchange rate and not give special privileges (the dollar is created by the Fed who are private).
"Though there are concerns about criminals using bitcoins to launder funds, the digital currency is a bad way to cover one's tracks. Since each transaction is recorded publicly, Bitcoin users are establishing a trail that anyone can follow"
For the average user this is probably true. However things are in the works like darkwallet... zerocoin. If bitcoin is allowed it essentially allows all alt coins so if there is an alt coin that is completely anonymous you would be able to buy it easily with bitcoin. Also there are "mixing" services where you can try to launder your coins but it is still somewhat traceable. The only way to move significant amounts of money into or out of bitcoin is through exchanges so if those are regulated then money laundering isn't exactly easy (I think that is a good thing right?) .
" Mortgages
A few homes have been listed for sale in bitcoins, but buyers must have the funds on hand. Regulatory issues and the volatility of Bitcoin's value preclude mortgages priced in the virtual currency"
Notice the keyword here "priced in the virtual currency" . You can simply not price it in the virtual currency but pay with it. Also to be technical bitcoin is considered a "digital currency" not a virtual one. I have also read real estate offers where bitcoin could be used as partial payment which means you don't need to have the entire funds.
"Lend Money into Existence
Because there is a fixed supply of bitcoins, it's impossible to simultaneously store a bitcoin in a blockchain address and lend it out, as banks do with deposits. However, firms could issue IOUs for bitcoins, which could then be used as a method of payment."
Is Creating money from nothing and lending it out at interest something we want? A better criticism would have been "you can't make loans in bitcoin because it is a deflationary currency and the borrower may inevitably default on their loan" .
Anyways to answer this question... you could create money with bitcoin. You can color a coin. You could take a single satoshi and color it and call it new money that is worth some large amount, then lend it. So the question is not if you can loan money into existence..... the question is actually why would the market accept that money?
"Avoid Infringement Claims
Many digital currencies have been built on top of the Bitcoin protocol, including the infamous Kanye West-themed Coinye. West sent a cease-and-desist letter to Coinye's developers, prompting Coinye to change its mascot to a "half-man-half-fish hybrid" that still bears a passing resemblance to the celebrity who inspired it. (Image: Bloomberg News)"
Patent troll companies are really the scum of the earth. Who knows what they will try to come up with in relation to bitcoin. On the plus side.... the bitcoin ecosystem is full of intelligent people who will ardently defend it. Also decentralization helps.