In reply to Thomas T Meredith.

Ha! 30%+ nefarious activities -- That's what significantly drove the expansion of the internet. The "sin" industries generally lead new markets.

As for hiding something. It's significantly easier to hide something with cash. It's somewhat difficult to hide activity with Bitcoin -- there is a digital trail. It's possible, but not nearly as easy as it is with the money systems we already have.

Consumers don't have a crying need... in most western nations. Anywhere where banking is a challenge, or the currency is highly volatile or suspect, BTC is compelling to consumers. Even today's Euro volatility should make BTC interesting to some consumers. *Merchants* though really do have a desire to pick up BTC. As do many financial transactors.

There is demand. Consumers in western nations are not necessarily the early adopters. But there are plenty of players that are. It's still early days, but they fact that the future is BTC or something like BTC... is obvious.