Quite true, and as with any type of gambling I would never spend more than I'm willing to lose lose, and as such I don't have a particularly fantastic mining rig, just my standard gaming desktops. In terms of criminal requirement, bitcoon exchanges are clamping down on the anonymous aspect, making the value of the currency directly proportional to how easy it is to extract without leaving a trace. It is still possible to evade the FBI through bitcoin tumbling (albeit difficult) but you have to compare it to the same extent you would do so for traditional currency.

The only possible gain that could be made bears the same risk as stock trading, you're simple trading I'm a different commodity, both could be worthless next week, but also got increase. The only thing I know right now is that unless you have the gear for it, mining is effectively pointless, I have about a few pence right now...