I recently paid for some local tacos using Bitcoin. My friend who was unfamilar with Bitcoin thought it was strange, like I technically didn't pay for them or something. We got into discussing Bitcoin and one of the questions he asked me was:
"Why would you want Bitcoins instead of cash?". For a second I didn't know what to say; then I thought about it and here is what I came up with. Feel free to contribute to this.
1) More security (especially if you are careful).
2) Bitcoins are a potential investment, cash is not. Paper currency only really goes down in value, Bitcoins have a lot of potential to be worth more as time goes on.
3) Fast, worldwide transactions at your fingertips.
4) Similar to #3, but it's a universal currency. It's legal in most countries of the world and you don't need any kind of currency conversion to send money to people in a different country than your own.
Bitcoin is better than paper currency in many ways because bitcoin increases value every time even though there's some little fluctuations based on the market while paper money stays the same all the time! Paper money might even depreciates when the inflation increases in price of commodities.
Bitcoin is far batter than the traditional money because it has no boundaries or any international laws regulating bitcoin unlike the traditional paper money which is acceptable only in your country and controlled by banks and government which is bad! Government and bank monitor your account activities and they got eyes on you, which you don't actually have a privacy over.
Tell that to the guys that bought at Mt Gox peak.
And bitcoins has a lot of boundaries. I know only three locations in a two million people city that accept bitcoin payments.
3!!! This is a damn limitation from my point of view.
And if the government would be that keen to track bitcoin activity they will do it easy. The blockchain is public.Can you afford to pay 3-4 transactions fees to mix your bitcoins every time you use them?
From my point of view bitcoin is a bit better than cash but going overboard with it is ignoring reality.