Quote from: neilgilkes on July 19, 2013, 10:33:40 PM

Wait a minute, am I missing something here? Why the hell would anyone go to the trouble of trading their standard currency - which is acceptable anywhere legitimate - into an non-traceable, anonymous electronic currency like Bitcoins unless they needed to stay anonymous or use a shop that only accepted Bitcoins - like the blackmarket sites.

As far as i have seen only sites accessed through the deepweb / tor etc demand payment in Bitcoins.

If you want to use a 'Legit' site, take your credit card and buy stuff off Amazon. It will save you an unbeleivable amount of time and effort... Forget all about bitcoins if your looking for regular, legitimate goods...

Some people are trying to break free of the hidden tax of inflation that their government forces on them by continuously printing excessive amounts of money.

Others simply value their privacy.

There are those that like the novelty of being on the leading edge of technology.

There are also merchants that will offer slightly lower prices for bitcoin payments since they don't have to be concerned about the costs associated with fraudulent chargebacks. Surprisingly, some consumers like the idea of paying a slightly lower price.

Don't forget about those who have credit issues and can't get a credit card that doesn't require significant fees from them.

These are just a few of the reasons that people choose bitcoin over more traditional payment methods. Eventually the "time and effort" necessary to pay with bitcoin will fade, and the benefits will become more obvious.