As an investment. If a person believes Bitcoin is going to continue to go up in value, they might want to buy a lot of Bitcoin, but have someone else manage the safekeeping of that Bitcoin they bought.

I'm one of many people kicking myself that I didn't buy Bitcoin years ago when I first heard about it. And now I'm wondering if I should buy some now, because there is a decent chance it will continue to go up (in the long run). But if I could pay a modest fee for someone I trust (like a very big bank) to look after those Bitcoins for me, I might consider it.

Sure, but to say that is to say that bitcoin's "unique investment opportunity" is akin to that of pieces of irreplaceable artistic value ... or tulips of irreplaceable biological heritage.

Once people believed bitcoin could be a currency, a medium of exchange that could be used for the ordinary transactions people used ordinary cash for. Now, it's an "investment vehicle" hurdling down the road that gold, natural gas futures and similar things went gone after 2008 when the Fed began QE in earnest.

And sure, "it's different thing time."

> I'm one of many people kicking myself that I didn't buy Bitcoin years ago when I first heard about it. And now I'm wondering if I should buy some now, because there is a decent chance it will continue to go up (in the long run). But if I could pay a modest fee for someone I trust (like a very big bank) to look after those Bitcoins for me, I might consider it.

I'm one of those who looks at the 2013 spike and 2014 crash, and wonders what's different this time around.

Well probably nothing, but the gambler in me goes, but wouldn't it have been nice to get out on top. The trick of course being knowing when the top is

You’re describing cryptocurrency ETFs like http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/gbtc/stock-chart

Can't you use futures for that? No risks of hacks.