Good post. Thanks.
I had just created a wallet and signed up with Mt. Gox when the shtf. Thanked my stars I didn’t lose anything. Figured I’d stay away. Might be time to take another look at bitcoin. I have noticed lots more vendors taking it lately.
Where fo go now, to buy some? Trusted...?
Like you, I signed up for Mt. Gox too late to be hurt by it. In fact, I got a rejection email from my account verification attempt literally the same hour that news of their implosion was announced. So ever since I've been joking that their last official act was in rejecting me as a customer! ;-)
Ironically, I got into bitcoin after I did some evaluation work comparing the characteristics of various forms of money (dollars, gold, etc.) and came to realize that this "bitcoin" thing I'd vaguely heard of might be a better option for conservatives as far as sound money was concerned. So I began studying and charting and grading it. It wasn't perfect but it scored much better across most categories (11 of 16 if I recall correctly) than fiat. And so within a few weeks I'd built myself an altcoin mining rig and jumped in with both feet. It was a bit of tough sledding getting involved on the wrong side of the Mt. Gox bubble, but I've done well nonetheless and am happy to see things have turned around.
I wouldn't suggest people do anything rash, but I think it would be prudent for anyone with savings to get themselves a bitcoin wallet and a modest stash of it. Partly to learn about the technology and take advantage of deals with it (such as saving 10-30% off anything at Amazon*), and partly in case the SHTF with fiat, which seems a certainty in the long run.
*I regularly average 20% off anything I buy at Amazon using Purse (https://purse.io/?_r=XClu2O)