I read the other post and checked out the ripoff report and wanted to say I appreciate the word of caution...  But I *have* been using OKPay quite a bit on smallish amounts (a few thousand euros here and there) and have had no problems.

That said, I think I'll take your words of warning and be very cautious if and when the day comes to cash out some BTC.....  I don't want any national currency ever landing in my bank account if you know what I mean as tax authorities in my country are notorious for pre-emptively analysing all private bank accounts and harassing anyone who is foolish enough to deposits windfalls.

Lastly, I said "-if- and when" because I do hope in the long run to be able to buy goods with BTC and keep the value in the blockchain, and I see promising developments in this area.  I suspect that in the next 5 years the crazy value fluctuations we now witness should stabilize and BTC will discover its value whatever that may be.  I find this grand experiment fascinating and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.