If someone found out that the system was flawed or if a successor got more traction than bitcoin. But I don't think either of these is likely. (There remains a risk, but: no risk, no fun. 
)
)Why don't you think the latter is likely? All it would take is a more concerted branding effort and a more user-friendly operation and it would wipe this shit out of the water.
Yup, cryptocurrency with a crypto-denominated financial market would also "wipe this shit out of the water". There is a good chance though that facing competition would encourage developers to address these issues. i.e. the successor could wipe bitcoin out or or it could just serve as a much needed wake up call. Current adoption levels would give bitcoin some time to react.