Bitcoins are a monumentally stupid idea, the only interesting thing about them is watching their fans fall into every known economic trap, scam and pitfall within the space of a couple of years.
It's not even really a currency, given nobody buys anything with it except drugs and child porn, and getting it exchanged into real money at anything resembling its supposed value is ludicrously difficult.
It's basically stocks and shares, except instead of buying into a company, you're buying into the concept of buying stocks and shares itself. Which leads to the very act of trying to sell the things actually devaluing them, which goes a long way towards explaining why the market crashes every five minutes.
On the other hand, it is a comedy goldmine. Forever amused by the endless parade of technically inept wannabee gangsters it seems to attract. What's the Silk Road guy been up to? Soliciting assassinations? Daft bugger used an email address with his real name in it.
