[DanBlake]

The problem with bitcoin is 1 or 2 events that give the public a 'scare' have the potential to nearly floor the usd value.

All it takes is one headline on CNN like "Joe Blow selling Anthrax and Cyanide on Silkroad/Craigslist for Bitcoins" for the general public go to fucking apeshit and cause some real 3 letter organizations to shutter most bitcoin exchanges with secret subpoenas and such.

Realistically, there is so much dependency on mtgox, once it went down I believe the price of bitcoins would likely be 10x less than it is currently.

[aneth4]

Nobody who owns bitcoin gives a damn who buys what with it, any more than you care who buys what with your country's currency. It's currency.

What could threaten bitcoin is a major flaw in its algorithm, which seems unlikely in the near future, and the hacking of the primary exchange - MTGox. In fact, I keep my Bitcoin at MTGox with the knowledge that if they lose my Bitcoin, the value will plumet to nearly nothing regardless of whether my coins are there or not.

[Hermel]

People who are that easily scared normally don't have Bitcoins to sell.

[illuminate]

"All it takes is one headline on CNN like "Joe Blow selling Anthrax and Cyanide on Silkroad/Craigslist for Bitcoins" for the general public go to fucking apeshit and cause some real 3 letter organizations to shutter most bitcoin exchanges with secret subpoenas and such."

Why would any TLA need a headline to get engaged? They tend to create their own.

[oleganza]

Almost everyone new to Bitcoin already has heard every scare story about drugs, money laundering, tax evasion, viruses, hackers, conspiracy etc. The news about DDoS or stolen money will not be a huge surprise (unless ALL money is stolen at once :-)

[DanBlake]

What I am suggesting is a league above the things you mention. The US generally does not fuck around when it comes to those sorts of things and has much broader power to do crazy shit (seize domains, secret subpoenas, etc..) when it involves national security vs generic anti-drug and weapon agenda.

[ewoodrich]

Drugs dealers typically use a large amount of cash, but that hasn't produced a pervasive stigma about physical currency in the US. So I don't think users will necessarily be dissuaded by reports of criminal use.