The rising price just makes me laugh. I "invested" $1,000 in BTC during the early hype as it was approaching $32.00. I told my co-workers how cool of a concept it was and that my investment was sure to pay off with a skyrocketing price.

After months and months the price drops and drops. My $1,000 is worth $200. I go through a ridiculously long process of proving my identity to Mt. Gox and Dwolla just to get real USD back at 1/5 their original value.

Now if only I had kept it in there for the long haul, I'd have my $1,000 back.

It's precisely this volatility that personally makes me skeptical of it truly reaching a critical mass of any sort.