Well it's just money. It is never too late to use money. Bitcoin was never intended to be an investment. If you want something that will go down in value over time you want U.S. dollars. They have lost about 93% of their value since they were introduced. So just stick to dollars and you will be poor in no time.
 

There are more choices every day now. But you may want to think about legal protection by choosing a licensed exchange in your country. If there is a problem with scamming or just incompetence you will have legal recourse and could even take them to court. If using an unlicensed exchange based in a remote location it is highly unlikely you will be able to do anything about their actions.

I think Japan may be in first place for most physical locations to spend. I thought it was like 260,000 locations. You can sometimes find them with map sited like the ones below. However they are never complete.

http://spendbitcoins.com/

https://coinmap.org/welcome/

http://bitcoinrestaurants.net/

There are many many plans for more ways to spend. Here is a neat one for example, a gas pump.

http://andyschroder.com/BitcoinFluidDispenser/2.3/

It has cleared. All is well!

Yes, you are exactly right. "unconfirmed inputs" is what I meant to write.   

This is part of the reason I normally avoid online wallets. If there is a problem then you have few options to fix things. I'm confident it will all work out, but it's not great.

Those guys are in the business of getting you to click on something everyday. Fork talk is good click-bait. They can't help shoveling bull shit, that is where the money is.

In the U.S. that would be devastating. Capitol gains tax is generally 0-15% whereas income tax is likely about 30%. You would more than double your tax burden if you had to pay income tax on your coins. 

I'm guessing you do not own a business. I only use bitcoin and it has led to lower prices. I expect to pay 1-3% less if I use bitcoin. The businesses I work with have seen huge profits because of bitcoin. The fees on credit card transactions are high compared to bitcoin fees not the other way round. Not to mention the many rules about who you can deal with, what you can buy, where you can shop, the ever-changing contract terms, the penalties, gotcha-fees, the risk to your identity, the 2-180 day wait for clearing the transaction... You get the idea.

NO. I don't know what the last 3 pages say, but the answer in no. Unless you have complete and exclusive control over your private keys then you do not even own any bitcoin.

When withdrawing from Purse.io I am left with an unconfirmed Tx.

https://blockchain.info/address/1LMHhQQhbks1Qdf1qVJ2CH7SiCLPeyNNUx?sort=0

Since this is their wallet I have little option but to wait right now. I don't think pushing it will help because it has unconfirmed inputs, and the fee is good. Is there anything else I can do now? And am I right that the pool will drop this after a few days? Anyone with Purse.io experience?

Cheers mates!

EDIT: fixed "unconfirmed inputs"

When we demand it rather than constantly asking each other.  If everyone in this thread wrote to Amazon it might happen today.

I hope none of you are entertaining this nonsense. The has NEVER been a time when bitcoin was tax free in the U.S.

Can I get an account with them? I wonder... Hmmmm.

EDIT: Nope.

That is a good point. They probably did buy some for investigations. And maybe some for training?
I stand corrected. 

The IRS is in no way cracking down on the exchanges. Now they are going to do their job and go after tax cheats who want to stick their neighbors with the bill. That is what the IRS does.

Pay your taxes and ignore the IRS. Or cheat on your taxes and pay the price. Plus interest and penalties, and jail time.

No. That does not sound right at all. One could figure out how many coins they hold as evidence. Of course they don't actually own them, they are in possession of them until the convictions are done. There have only been a handful of seizures and most of those have since been auctioned off by the Federal government, which does own them.

Bitcoin owned by the FBI = 0

Bitcoin is the best idea in finance in a century. People are starting to figure that out.

Maybe instead of asking each other every day we should start demanding to pay with bitcoin? I took this on last night and guess what? My haircut lady will do my next cut for bitcoin! Sometimes all you have to do is ask. When I did she told me I was the third person to do so.

Those are legitimate concerns for a business, but not applicable if you know how. Businesses use a payment processor to handle electronic transactions like credit cards. If they want to avoid price volatility and handling bitcoin then they can simply use a bitcoin processor like coinbase or bitpay.  I have helped businesses set up a processor and it is very easy. Once they are set up they can take bitcoin but not touch  it. The customer pays with BTC then the processor sends a deposit in dollars to their bank account. It could not be easier and is cheaper and faster for the business than a credit card. There is no logical reason to not take bitcoin. It costs nothing to try and can earn you more when a customer pays with it.

Of course no retailer will do this unless you ask demand it. That is the most important part.

If you read the article it says something quite different than zerohedge's click-bait title. It is about "illicit finance" like money laundering. Not about bitcoin, beyond the fact that it will be policed like every other market. There is no surprise here. Actually it would be a surprise if the government said that bitcoin will be considered free money unlike anything else in the economy.