But it's a damn shame that most retailers don't accept altcoins.  I looked up places where you can spend Dash, and there were absolutely no places where I'd want to buy anything.  It'd be great if Newegg took litecoin, for example--or anything else, because I agree with OP about this.  It just isn't practical anymore to use bitcoin for small purchases.  For a thing like a new computer, yeah, I'd spend a few dollars for network fees (with teeth a-gritting), but even that's a waste.  Why use bitcoin when you can spend fiat?  There's no fees on my end whatsoever using a debit card or cash.  And there's no opportunity cost, either, since the purchasing power of the US Dollar isn't going to explode overnight like bitcoin has done.  Ah well, maybe in the future.