I believe that speculation solves a catch-22, notably, how do you get people on board a currency and use it, when there is nothing to use it on? Well...the speculators get on board first, whether it's driven by greed, or a dream, or whatever. But now that early speculators, or even investors that have produced large profits, have some wealth, they will begin to want to spend it. Why? Because, you have the choice of either cashing out your winnings and paying a hefty gains tax on it, or directly spending the coins into something you want.  And the market will respond by offering items for those speculators that they can pay in bitcoins directly. And we're already seeing this happen: it's cumbersome, for the most part, at least for now, but remember, you can't solve the catch-22 otherwise.