What Do You Think of Bitcoin?

I had an old friend ask me (via LinkedIn), What do I think of Bitcoin?    While I do have opinions about this, no one has ever asked me before!  In particular, this person was wondering if they should invest in Bitcoin.  

In case you don't know, Bitcoin are a form of virtual digital currency, and you can buy and sell them like any other currency.  Bitcoin has been in the news for various reasons, but the most public was when the government shut down a shady website called "Silk Road" and seized $28 Million in Bitcoin.   So here was my answer to the question....

I would consider it a very risky investment at this point. I believe in the concept of having alternative currencies and I believe we should be able to transact business online anonymously (ie, without credit cards), but up until now BitCoins have been used mostly for kind of shady purposes so they have a bad rap right now.

I am not an investment advisor, but I guess I would give the same advice if you asked me about buying a house-- if you need a house, buy one, but if you buy them just because you think they're going up in value, you might be disappointed. So if you need some bitcoins, buy them, but I personally would not bet the farm on them.

What do you think of Bitcoin??