Originally Posted by kane

To me the potential threat is if more and more countries and banks start acting the same way. Right now the value of the bitcoin is based on its ability to be converted into actual cash that you can spend anywhere. If all banks stopped allowing bitcoin purchases or sales (an example would be how US banks can't approve transactions from online casinos) then people would no longer be able to take the bitcoin and turn it into actual cash.Without that ability I could see its value going down and its role being diminished.

Right now the appeal of it is that it continues to go up in value. If you buy $5,000 worth of bitcoins today they might be worth $7,000 a month from now.