Something to keep in mind is that bitcoin was created to be a currency, not an investment.
I'm not convinced that that is true. I cannot see it being a very powerful stand-alone currency (that is, without legal state sponsorship) without a claw-back capability. The designer(s) seem to me to have been thoughtful enough to have considered this.
Theoretically, it is a store of value because there is a fixed supply (that is dribbling out to us slowly over decades). It will only be a store of value, though, when enough people/businesses are accepting bitcoins that prices are fixed in bitcoins, not in USD converted to current USD/BTC rate.
It's potential as a store of value is as strong as the value people place in it. Just like USD, property, gold, pork bellies, or just about anything else.
Remember, bitcoin is still in beta, and could be for a very long time. That's okay.
Agree. I theorize that it is actually much better in the long run if Bitcoin plays opossum for as long as it takes for it to be obviously useful, and for all of our sake that it never happens. My main trouble is that I am having difficulty actually enjoying this, but that's my own problem.
What I think will be interesting to see is whether Bitcoins are picked up as a major medium of exchange between people in the next country to see its currency collapse the way the Zimbabwe dollar did.
I had never thought of the potential for a conflagration to start in that way, and it is an interesting point to ponder (and possibly one to put some consideration into facilitating.) I guess it would need to happen in a place where people had pretty good access to technology. Greece? Hmmm...
