Isn't the bitinstant thing going to actually be a net neutral at best?  As far as I can see it's just going to create more demand for BTC holders to use them, which means it will actually increase the sell-side of the equation as BTC are converted back to national currencies.

What we need is more actual goods and services brought into the bitcoin fold - this is what makes a currency increase in value over the long term;  the faster growth of the underlying product base than the supply of money.  I think it's great, this whole debit card thing, don't get me wrong. That being said, the bitcoin economy itself needs more of an actual economy of goods and services.