First, you have to admit that there is a lot more news about Bitcoin scams and theft than news any good that Bitcoin does.
Second, Bitcoin has not proven its stability and use the way other currencies have. It doesn't have history behind it yet. There are those of us, myself included, who want nothing to do with it until it is proven absolutely-and without-question legal for use in our countries. Just as some raise the question of whether the US dollar is legal, we have the right to question currencies of unknown and unproven provenance.
Third, association with Bitcoin, for me, considering it's questionable provenance, in any way, shape or form is a hassle I do not want. I don't have the time or the resources to invest in exploring that association, and given that uncertainty, I certainly don't want the possibility of potentially having to defend myself to the tax authorities. There's plenty of tripwires there already to catch me unawares and unlawyered and adding another would just make that situation worse. This is not a risk I would want to take.
You obviously feel differently about the situation and that's your risk to take. But it's not your risk to take on my behalf, without my approval.
Which brings us to tip4commit - they've engineered the whole thing to place themselves at risk (their option) and to place the people they want to support at risk as well (not their choice). Whether or not those potential issues are real or not is not the question yet. The point is that tip4commit has zero right to do or say anything that might place me at risk, whether or not that is real.
The US Internal Revenue Service has published guidance on the treatment of bitcoin for tax purposes, and New York has passed bitcoin regulation.
Like these rules or not, in most countries bitcoin's legality is completely clear. There are some that consider it illegal, but most _explicitly_ do not.
I personally purchase almost everything with bitcoin including groceries (Amazon Fresh). I do nothing illegal with bitcoin, and I report my income and capital gains. There is no question as to my bitcoin's provenance, I purchase bitcoin from a public exchange, and keep records of these transactions as I would for stock or a large amount currency exchanges.
I do this because I like bitcoin, because it's very convenient to do these types of online transactions, and because there are essentially no transaction fees. I do not hold funds in bitcoin long for these uses (basically cash transactions), but separately I occasionally hold bitcoin for investment speculation (full disclosure I am not currently holding any bitcoin for investment). However that is unrelated to how I typically use bitcoin on a day to day basis, and I do not recommend bitcoin investment to anyone without a very high volatility tolerance (Although unlike stocks it is easy to hold very small amounts of bitcoin for the learning experience).
In other words it is a completely normal monetary/investment instrument, albeit a new and interesting technology. As for scams I have yet to hear of any bitcoin scams that are not simply cash based scams already common in existing currencies, and I see far more news these days about startups, government review, legitimate ideas for new uses and novel innovations enabled by bitcoin's technology than regarding scams.
Technology that relates to money concerns people, and rightly so. Every bitcoin user I've ever met started as a sceptic, both in terms of the technology and the concepts of money. However, these people then learned how the technology works and become more literate about how economics and monitory theory work, and only then did they start to see and accept the innovation.
The politics and morals of people associated with bitcoin are an entirely tangential discussion, and as with any group it is probably not a good idea to generalize.
Second, Bitcoin has not proven its stability and use the way other currencies have. It doesn't have history behind it yet. There are those of us, myself included, who want nothing to do with it until it is proven absolutely-and without-question legal for use in our countries. Just as some raise the question of whether the US dollar is legal, we have the right to question currencies of unknown and unproven provenance.
Third, association with Bitcoin, for me, considering it's questionable provenance, in any way, shape or form is a hassle I do not want. I don't have the time or the resources to invest in exploring that association, and given that uncertainty, I certainly don't want the possibility of potentially having to defend myself to the tax authorities. There's plenty of tripwires there already to catch me unawares and unlawyered and adding another would just make that situation worse. This is not a risk I would want to take.
You obviously feel differently about the situation and that's your risk to take. But it's not your risk to take on my behalf, without my approval.
Which brings us to tip4commit - they've engineered the whole thing to place themselves at risk (their option) and to place the people they want to support at risk as well (not their choice). Whether or not those potential issues are real or not is not the question yet. The point is that tip4commit has zero right to do or say anything that might place me at risk, whether or not that is real.