Bitcoin is here to stay. For starters, only 21M Bitcoins will ever be produced. That's it! It is very volatile in price, however. Today it stands above $60, and as of now, it is pretty legitimate currency -- no different than me going to some online trader and buying Bitcoins with my Dollars. No different than going to exchange my Dollars for Euros, etc. There is no medium of exchange and completely unregulated, taxed, monitored. I would prefer to use Bitcoin for the simple fact that I don't have to put my money in a bank account and have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get my money out or to someone else -- if I want to send you $1M, just point and click. Any other method would probably require lawyers! This isn't the case with BTC's, although it might be possible that lawmakers could outlaw Bitcoin just because it IS untraceable. That said, I don't think it will be the money of the future.
But in order to get BitCoin, you do have to go through the hassle of getting a wallet, and somehow trading/buying the BitCoin. I think BitCoin is great if you can find a service for which you can get paid in BitCoin, but as someone who wants in on BitCoin and only has cash (no supercomputer or great computing powers) the hassle of linking up my bank account or transfering money so that I can buy BitCoin is a hassle. I'd love to use BitCoin but it's not (in my lazy opinion) easy enough to get a hold of. (That and they're expensive...)
I won't say you don't need to have some kind of know-how on acquiring Bitcoins; by any means it isn't exactly easy. Even less so if you're trying to make sure that your Bitcoins aren't in any way tied to you. There are plenty of services and methods in which you can trade cash for Bitcoins (see: https://localbitcoins.com/). This particular service lets you meet up anonymous with local users who are willing to trade their Bitcoins for cash. This might work in smaller amounts, probably up $9,999, after which the Feds start poking around. They are expensive, but you can buy (or create) fractions of Bitcoins. Also keep in mind that the price of Bitcoins fluctuate a lot. A few months ago, we were looking at an exchange rate of about $1:BTC15-30. Now we're looking at $60+! I personally think it is in a bubble, but it should rise a bit more before it starts coming down and stabilize. My two cents, but its market fluctuates heavily. (http://qz.com/65709)
I have read an article about why it is not a bubble...Not sure if it was on hubski, or elsewhere...I will go look for it. Thanks for the additional information/sharing! Bitcoins have interested me a lot for a while now and I've been trying to learn more about them. As a writer I doubt I'll ever be lucky enough to be able to trade virtual skills for BitCoin so buying them is going to be the way to go. No supercomputer for me :) Here is the article I was reading: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/20133913253...
You actually bring up an interesting question -- why should I need to work for dollars? Albeit paying me in dollars would be easier, is it a legal requirement to be paid in dollars for compensation? I can't really answer too much on Bitcoins explosive valuation mostly because it's so new. I imagine that it could be a bubble for now, but I can also see BTC's valued much, much higher in the near future. The very workings of Bitcoin will make it a valuable asset to anyone interested in a decentralized currency -- there will certainly be a market for this kind of stuff, especially since governments are experimenting with internet regulation and control.