What Can You do With Bitcoin?

Whenever I talk to people that want to know more about Bitcoin, I get questions like, “What can you do with bitcoin? Can you buy stuff with bitcoin? Are there safe ways to buy items? Which services do you recommend?” The internet, and to some extent the digital currency world, is the Wild West for the most part, with very few safeguards to protect people who are not extremely careful. What can the general public do to protect themselves against fraud, scammers, and the more unsavoury characters on the internet? Everyone should use escrow for their transactions — this goes for buyers and....