For some reason , I have never gotten the guts to invest in bitcoins, it just scares me does not seem trust worthy at all, I do hope am wrong, but that is how I feel.
BitCoin is not risky in the fact that it has been stolen multiple times; that shouldn't really effect the stock value. On the other hand, it is risky because it is a fad. Right now BitCoin is popular, but who can say what it will be like in two weeks, let alone 2 years. It is way too risky to invest in a fad; which is also why I didn't invest in FaceBook, etc.
I just learned that bitcoin has an app called bitcoin wallet. It can be used for making mobile payments. It looks like a way to lure more people into buying bitcoins but I doubt that many people will be all that interested in "crypto-currency." Too risky . . .
Virtual currency is also way too risky for me aswell, and I certainly don't trust some of the sites that bitcoin gets advertised on. Even though it does seem to becoming more and more popular, until it actually comes under a regulatory body and comes with some sort of financial insurance, then its something I won't be going anywhere near, no matter how popular it gets.
$2000 once. Never doing that again. I lost $500 just because it's decreased in value. I really don't want to know how those who invest way more than me feel when they lose a big part of their money.
Yes, I did. It is volatile, so it's better to be in for the long run. I advise against using online wallets, because you have to trust a third party to take care of your bitcoin. Keep your coins (actually, your keys) on a smartphone (Mycelium for Android or Breadwallet for iOS) or on paper. However, the safest solution is a dedicated hardware wallet (like Trezor).
Quite a number of online retailers accept bitcoin already: Overstock, Expedia, Dell, CheapAir, Dish, TigerDirect, Newegg, to name a few big ones. What do you mean with "USD is government backed"? If I go the the US goverment with my dollars, what will I get in return?
There are many apps for bitcoin, the best are Mycelium for Android and Breadwallet for iOS. Of course, like with all software for the Bitcoin ecosystem, they are made to facilitate the use of Bitcoin. If you want to see that as "luring" people into buying bitcoin, those are your words. But if you're genuinely interested, take a look at bitcoin dot org .