A new question for the OP - what makes you think a Bitcoin has a future comparable to Google's past performance?
Don't believe I ever said it did...I indicated that the values were comparable at that moment in time...and I linked their current valuations. As the ol' investing disclaimer suggests; past performance is no indicator of future results.
Using Bitcoin as purely an investment undermines the original purpose of Bitcoin, no? It's a currency to be spent for goods and services. As this spending increases the price volatility should settle and as more coins are mined (and supply goes up) the price to USD should go down, right?
It would seem to me that the "purpose of Bitcoin" (and perhaps more importantly the Blockchain) is far from established...and is in fact just beginning to reveal and manifest itself. No need to preempt possibilities...which at the moment are rather exponential.
There is no doubt that the ecosystem is growing. Bitcoin
Venture Capital is soaring at rates not seen since the Internet Angel boom in 1994.
Can you cite any sources to support your claim that VC interest is "soaring at rates not seen since 1994"?
Got about 100 more sources where these came from...not the least of which are Angels I work with around the world...
http://moneymorning.com/2014/06/16/venture-capitalists-are-investing-in-bitcoin-at-the-fastest-pace-to-date/http://www.coindesk.com/marc-andreessen-balaji-srinivasan-discuss-bitcoin/http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9qJO2tNL3sIf GOOG was appreciating as much as Bitcoin every year and you could buy things with it, why would you hold fiat?
If you convert every paycheck to bitcoins then that money appreciates before you spend it.
If you do not convert every paycheck then that fiat just loses value until you spend it.
What about the last year? BTC is down over 50% (to USD) from it's high mark within the last 12 months. When you change the size of the frame the picture looks a bit different.
Near-term risk is indeed very real, with markets established as they are right now. I know of quite a few people that have lost quite a bit of fiat on paper since jumping into Bitcoin late last year...much current VC interest is in infrastructure and building the ecosystem and support structures and not in BTC-direct purchases. The position held by some folks appears to be that Bitcoin appreciates, therefore there is no point in holding fiat, but that is of course...not a guarantee at the moment. Depreciation of fiat on the other hand...does seem to be a spiraling guarantee. I recall a time...barely...when dollars would actually buy more overseas from time to time...rather than ever-less.
DeathAndTaxes provided nice bigger-picture perspective on BTC valuation trending...
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.8106799