Thoughts on Bitcoin as payment?

[barq2]

Agree about the not just sitting on it part. Not totally untraceable.
Recall I-phone unlockable-until the gov got some hacker to open it for them. Governments working on it- crypto traceability that is.
For now- it's a payment means and relatively secure compared to other means; and it comes with a fee to buy. Buy it if you need it; when you need it...………………...Folken

I'd go further than "not totally untraceable" since the technology is built on having a commonly agreed ledger of transactions. But the point is it needs specialist expertise to trace those bitcoins - this isn't just like LE calling your credit card company! I'd describe bitcoin as a pain in the a** to trace, but it is absolutely doable unless you've gone to great lengths (e.g. tumbling bitcoins), but even that isn't 100%. I think your description of it as relatively secure for the ordinary person is totally right.

If I were a terrorist or in organised crime (I'm not!) I'd probably regard bitcoin's potential traceability as more of a problem, and that is what LE are working on most urgently (certainly GCHQ in the UK).