No, the Fed isn't making Bitcoin the national currency. Something even more American is happening: Bitcoin is getting its own college football bowl game.

Online Bitcoin payment company BitPay announced on Wednesday that it's paying an undisclosed amount to name an annual college bowl after the currency through 2016. Yes, the Dec. 26 game held in St. Petersburg, Florida, will now be called the "Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl." R.I.P."Beef O'Brady's Bowl."

The hope is that some good old college football branding will help spread the gospel of Bitcoin beyond the money launderers and illegal drug dealers with whom the untraceable digital currency has been most often associated.

Is it worth spending what's probably hundreds of thousands of dollars to advertise an Internet thingamabob? Especially one meant to replace one of the world's most trusted currencies -- the dollar? And will Bitcoin even be around in 2016?

These are the questions the "Bitcoin Bowl" raises. And as if you needed to be told, the origins of a Bitcoin-themed football game can be traced back to Reddit. ]]>