Bitcoin is a currency. The point of it is to buy things.
Because it is based on encryption, it can provide both hiding of who you are, and strong proof of who you are. But it is cool that it can also supply you with pizza.
Completely inappropriate comment for HN, but the sentence:
"Because it is based on encryption, it can provide both hiding of who you are, and strong proof of who you are. But it is cool that it can also supply you with pizza."
Seriously made me laugh out loud. You just made my day :)
To expand on that: the main selling points of BTC are that it's easy to transfer and that there is no central bank, which makes it impossible to tap into your funds by increasing the money supply. If your only concern is anonymity, cash is the much superior option (true anonymity vs. mixing).
While it may be easy to transfer bitcoins anonymously, spending them anonymously on tangibles is just as hard as spending any other kind of money anonymously. Tax evaders are often caught because their lifestyle and assets are inconsistent with their reported income, and not necessarily because government is able to follow their money.
It is useful if you happen to have some coins and want to spend them without converting them to USD. Useful to some. I don't see how it defeats the anonymity. If you fear that the pizza service is run by FBI, you can always use your coins through a mixer.
