First, I did a forum search and found almost nothing on Bitcoin. I found that strange but I doubted the search function was broken.
Second, I wasn't sure what forum was the best fit this topic but economics fits better than technology...a little.
Third, Hi!

So...
Have you heard of Bitcoin? If so, skip to The Question Below. If you haven't, let me nutshell it for you:

it is a completely virtual currency traded via peer-to-peer connections on the internet
it has no central authority and requires no [central] third party to transact
it is backed by nothing other than the effort required to obtain it (which can be extensive)
it is stored in wallet files on computers or other memory devices
it is in theory [practically] impossible to counterfeit, double spend or kite (and the theory is as secure as sha256)
coins are 'mined' (like gold, but in a virtual sense rather than physical) and spent like cash.
transactions are more anonymous than paypal/credit cards but [arguably] less anonymous than cash.

The way you use it is to
download and install a client.
get bitcoins however (mine, buy, trade, steal)
send coins to address (provided by payee)
receive coins from address (provided by you)

The Question Below!
Do you see a future in it? I do. At other forums I don't get very good opinions of it. Most of the arguments against it are pretty weak though. The one argument that holds water is that it is only a fad that is being propped up by speculators. I see it as more than that. I see it having real potential utility; the true mark of a currencies value is its utility. It's actual, current utility is still very small; the things you can actually buy with it are very limited. Speculators seem to love it; it is trading on currency exchanges for around $17 (at the time of this post). I see that as being way over-valued, but i'm no economist.

So...answer the poll.

Do You See a Future In it?

Notes:
I can't find the create poll button so you gotta do it with a post
I didn't include links because i didn't want y'all to think I was spamming (given my post count is so low)

trubble76 wrote:Are you essentially touting the use of WoW gold as real currency? Any half decent programmer would be a trillionaire overnight, no?

Well, no. Wow gold is backed by WoW, like dollars are backed by the U.S. If WoW decided to flood the market with WoWgold, the resulting inflation would destroy the market. Only 21 million Bitcoins will ever (can ever) be created. Not one bitcoin more. Currently 8 million have been mined; out there in the market. In theory, this will have a deflationary effect. And in theory, the negative impacts associated with deflation are negated by the currencies [very] high degree of divisibility (eight decimal places).

Given that, after reading the entire Wikipedia entry about Bitcoin, I STILL have no idea how to use it, or what it can accomplish that can't be done MUCH more easily using other currencies, I would say that it has no future. Not with us peasants, anyway. It appears to be more of an esoteric experiment in computer programming, and conceptual economic modelling, than anything else.

It would still seem, from a usefulness viewpoint, to be identical to existing currencies, in that it's value is entirely dependent on whether or not someone is willing to accept it in exchange for goods and services. It appears to me, that it currently has a value, but that with no notice whatsoever, it could stop being accepted by any or all who currently assign it value, and thus become effectively worthless. There fore I a myself entirely unwilling to do the TREMENDOUS amount of work required just to figure out what it actually is.

Rob Lister wrote:

trubble76 wrote:Are you essentially touting the use of WoW gold as real currency? Any half decent programmer would be a trillionaire overnight, no?

Well, no. Wow gold is backed by WoW, like dollars are backed by the U.S. If WoW decided to flood the market with WoWgold, the resulting inflation would destroy the market. Only 21 million Bitcoins will ever (can ever) be created. Not one bitcoin more.

If there is no central authority over them, how can you say this? How does one verify that they have "legitimate" bitcoins? No authority also means that there can be no penalties for counterfeiting them.