For me the real benefit of bitcoin is how easy it makes it to send money on the internet. If society at large treated bitcoin like a currency (i.e. suitable for settling all debts, whether public or private), the ease with which it can be sent online without intermediaries, anywhere in the world is what's really great about it.

Internet money, true international internet money. That's what I like about it. If you just ever care about USD and everything you do in your life is in USD and you live in the US, there's little value in bitcoins. When I got started getting paid for IRC math tutoring, from people I had never met, whose identity I didn't know and didn't care about, but who could send me money if I just gave them a bitcoin address; that's when I really started to like bitcoins.

I think bitcoin's utility is a separate question from regulations and taxes. Unlike most other bitcoin proponents, I like regulations and taxes, and I would be happy for whatever laws society thinks we need around bitcoins. I've paid sales tax with bitcoins when I've bought stuff with bitcoins from online retailers who accept them.

The problem I have with banks is that I just think that they are awfully inefficient. Their security features are awfully inconvenient and theatrical. I mean stuff like password requirements and website design, not stuff like being able to roll back incorrect or fraudulent transactions (which, btw, didn't work for me; the one time I had my debit card skimmed the bank didn't do me a whit of good in getting my money back).

Sending Bitcoins is as easy as sending email. Some banks in parts of the world let you do almost that, but it's just not as easy and convenient, and it's certainly not international.