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.