[quote=Kaga]
Now see, here's what I don't get.A lot of people would say that they don't trust the government with their money....But would you really trust the collective minds of the internet more?
[/quote]

Because it's supposed to be maintained by many mutually distrustful parties that are on an equal footing rather than a government controlling things with the average money-carrying person having no say in it. People don't want to get fucked over, so they're all keeping an eye on things (bitcoin "mining" has something to do with this, but I have no idea how it works exactly) to make sure nothing screwy is going on. Plus there's a maximum amount of bitcoins (and I think all other cryptocurrencies too) that can be in existence at one time, so inflation is supposedly not a concern like it is with paper currency. Then there's also the part about how it's supposed to be nearly impossible to counterfeit these currencies, which is I guess another draw.

Supposedly Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are far more secure than currencies controlled by governments, so that'd be why a lot of people like them. Also the pure fact of them not being controlled by a government would be a draw for lots of people, even if it were advertised as being just equally secure and reliable.