[euank]

You can transfer cash to someone else cost free, tax free, and paperwork free if you don't mind breaking the law. If you transfer money by other means (e.g. the bank, bonds, etc) there are perks that make up for the additional cost generally. If nothing else, simplicity.

You really think it can't be devalued by the government?

Its value changed when China implemented laws regulating it (and even when there was speculation of it).

If the NSA threw its resources at mining, it could become rich and then dump for cheap, thus crashing it.

The FBI already showed that they can seize some, and they managed to seize such a significant portion that it could be devalued that way.

What you should be saying is "It's not backed by a central authority we have to trust". A third party as powerful as the government can still do significant damage to it.

[genwin]

I get your point that it can be indirectly devalued. That should be true for any store of wealth imaginable.

A transfer of cash is a transfer of a continuously devaluing currency. If I bury a barrel of cash to give to my heirs it might be worth half in today's dollars by the time they dig it up. Not so likely with bitcoin, assuming demand for it remains the same or higher than now.

The gov't could ban bitcoin transactions but that's becoming more and more unlikely as Wall Street gets into bitcoin-related services.

> If you transfer money by other means (e.g. the bank, bonds, etc) there are perks that make up for the additional cost generally. If nothing else, simplicity.

Agreed. For heirs, for example, a living trust is probably the way to go, over bitcoin inheritance.