What one aspect of Bitcoin intrigues/fascinates you the most?

[rtw]

There are numerous things about bitcoin that intrigue me. The mining process. Deflation and finite amount. The network. The transaction methods. Satoshi Nakamoto . Too many to list.

If I had to say what intrigues me the most about bitcoin it would be the possibilities of its use. Its a pretty vague statement but I think that the possibilities of Bitcoins use in normal everyday transactions makes it so intriguing. There are so many unknowns, as well as unknown unknowns.

What intrigues you the most about bitcoin?

[ediaz]

I am interested in hard wallets. This seems a nice way to store bitcoins for the future!

[BitshireHashaway]

I feel like if I had to choose the top two things that interest me the most about Bitcoin are they way in which they are mined, and also the founder. I spend sometime every day, just trying to learn about these two things and how interesting they are, and the way in which they work!

[Rex_Heston]

The fact that cryptocurrency has the potential to be the cash of the internet is the single most intriguing thing about it for me. Being a heavy supporter of the right to privacy, and seeing the way governments and corporations are encouraging the use of easily trackable/freezable assets, such as cellphone wallets and credit cards, I think that Bitcoin has the potential to provide a "safe-haven" for people who don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry knowing their business, or losing all of their money to an overzealous government silencing campaign.

It also doesn't hurt that it sounds like something Neal Stephenson should have come up with for "Snow Crash," and that I'm interested in the cryptographic side of cryptocurrency.

[Mike Christ]

The #1 reason for me is that it's not controlled by any bank.  It's peer to peer money.  My assets are safe.

[James Galt]

Advantages: not controlled by a bank, no fees, mine is mine (governments have reduced influence on BTC).

Disadvantages: if I can't touch it, I don't own it.

My idea is to buy some BTC as a investment, who knows what the future holds. The financial markets today are a joke. Fiat currencies always fail.

[quickdra]

I like the fact that it has a fixed maximum amount of coins with no government printing it into oblivion.

[Manawarp]

It's arguably the first true form of internet money.

[xavier83]

Advantages: not controlled by a bank, no fees, mine is mine (governments have reduced influence on BTC).

Disadvantages: if I can't touch it, I don't own it.

My idea is to buy some BTC as a investment, who knows what the future holds. The financial markets today are a joke. Fiat currencies always fail.

you do have fees in bitcoins. it is just not that high.

[Leonidas1]

I'm interested in seeing how the rise of crypto-currencies in general will change the business landscape. I feel like this new form of currency is finally going to kill off alot of these ancient business models and make way for innovation.

[BChydro]

THE DRUGS. No really, I like the full transparency and elegance of the whole Bitcoin model.

[emantu]

The open nature of the system! Anyone in the world can send, receive, mine bitcoins or develop a service using them; while being a player in the traditional financial world is limited to a select few.

[zemario]

I don't know what you guys mean by 'internet money'. It's not more 'internet' than other currencies.

Well anyway.

The fact that I can be 100% secure that my assets are safe. If I hold the private key then they are safe. No law, bank failure, etc, can reach them.

Besides that, that the network is all that is necessary to make a transaction, directly to the destination.

On the negative side. The blockchain is public, privacy is rather limited.

[lucuasl]

What intrigues you the most about bitcoin?

Why bitcoin wasnt invented earlier. All the technolgies were in place already, satashi just put them together.  Maybe that is 20 20 hindsight

[Coinseeker]

The cost effective ability to buy and sell worldwide.

[BitMagnet]

I find it fascinating that there are no borders in bitcoin.  It doesn't matter if I'm paying my buddy next door or my friend on the other side of the planet - same transaction and cost - that is amazing.

[BTCAviator]

I like that I can send a bitcoin payment to someone on the opposite side of the world just as easily as sending a payment to someone standing beside me.

As cheesy as this might sound, I think bitcoin will bring the people of the world closer together.

[RedHoops]

Greedy Rothschild bankers and their ilk haven't found a way to get their bloody hands on BitCoin yet.

[Rodyland]

Honestly, the haters.  I get it that people think it's stupid, that it's a waste of time and money, that it's doomed to fail (and I disagree of course, but I can understand the concept of someone who can't see what I see).

But the ferocity with which the haters come in to our house and tell us, basically, that we are fools.... it astounds me. 

I think that people who spend their spare time painting Warhammer figurines are wasting their time and money too, but you don't see me dropping into Gamers Workshop every Saturday to yell at those enjoying their hobby.

And now for an answer more in the vein of what you really meant - the things that can be built on top of bitcoin.  This one: http://www.bitescrow.org/ is one recent example that really blew my mind when I realised what it could do and how it works.

[neil_mccauley]

I took a class in cryptography and one of the topics covered was anonymous internet cash.  I've worked in Cryptography for the last three years and the crypto-side of how the cryptocurrencies work is so interesting to me.