user1022: Can you eventually hold the bitcoins in your hand, like real cash dollars or euros or something? If so, how?
I've gone through all the service previews and introduction videos (actually, a video), and didn't see anything about this particular point.
I don't have a credit card, and I'm in a country where banking services aren't so profound and  people don't use credit cards (Libya). Does a Bitcoin account rely on having a credit card, and will the coins you gather be added to your bank account?

user909: Bitcoins have no central authority. There is no bank required. All Bitcoins are digital. You need only a computer (a PC, Smartphone, etc!) to use Bitcoins. There's no need to have physical coins or bills. That said there are some initiatives to offer physical coins for example https://www.casascius.com/.
Take a look at http://www.weusecoins.com/ and http://lovebitcoins.org/.

( You could print the secret information that you can use your Bitcoin with, but it is not quite the same as cash. You could even get bank notes (redeemable Bitcoin "vouchers") from a trusted party. That is pretty much what cash is. You would also take a lot of unnecessary risk, which could give you the authentic cash experience. )

user15: You don't need a credit card to use Bitcoin, and you don't need any account anywhere. Just download the open source software from http://www.bitcoin.org
Bitcoin was born out of discontentment with traditional (central) banking, monetary, credit and transaction systems. That's why there is no central institution or authority behind Bitcoin that can administer you. How much one bitcoin is worth is entirely decided by free market dynamics within the community. That's possible because the supply of bitcoins is held artificially scarce.
It's a currency from the people for the people. If you and your community want to build an economy upon it, you all can get some GPUs or FPGAs and start mining. It will be entirely up to initiatives in your community to build services that exchange to and from traditional (Libyan) currencies, to offer goods and services, or to manufacture physical coins similar to Casascius to put into circulation (although these are rather seen as a gimmick, it may be much more convenient to use mobile phone clients nowadays for meatspace trading). Even in US and Europe where it's most popular, Bitcoin is still in its infancy and this process is only just happening.
If you happen to find Bitcoin inadequate to build a local economy upon, because you can't mine enough or you'd have to invest too much to buy some, you may take a look at different concepts like Ripple et al. These concepts build upon trust relationships however, you'll lose some of the features like the global scope and the (relative) anonymity/pseudonymity that Bitcoin offers. Money is a tool to transfer value after all. There are currently no known tools or technologies that can solve all problems at once if you don't want a currency that is enforced by an authority.

user74: If you mean physical bitcoins you can carry, there is:
https://www.casascius.com/
(Beware, this is not safe anymore : http://codinginmysleep.com/casascius-physical-bitcoins-cracked-at-defcon/)
I didn't quite understand the other parts of your question. Bitcoin don't rely on having a credit card nor having a bank account. https://www.bitinstant.com/ allow you to fund your exchange account with just cash.

user153: What you are looking for is likely a person-to-person exchange where you provide bitcoins and in exchange you get EURO currency.
While there is some of this happening in various places, it is not found everywhere.  There are no buyers or sellers listing Libya, ...yet:

https://localbitcoins.com/country/ly
Offering to exchange bitcoins to cash and vice-versa can be an income-generating activity, though in many areas doing so requires licensing.

But where there's a will there's a way.
In the meantime, here's a list of various methods:

http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Selling_bitcoins


user2037: Bitcoin doesn't need a bank account - your bitcoin wallet is your bank account, and you don't need any permission or paperwork to start using bitcoin.
For example, using localbitcoins.com to change cash to bitcoins and vice versa, you don't need any kind of bank account at all.

user85: Bitcoins are a purely electronic currency. If you want to sell them in exchange for dollars or euros, you can do that. But as Bitcoins, they exist purely electronically. There are physical Bitcoins but basically, they're just the key to an electronic account printed in some form.
I think you're missing the concept that Bitcoins act like a currency or commodity. You can have 10 Bitcoins just like you can have 10 ounces of gold. The key difference is that the Bitcoins exist electronically rather than phyiscally. If you have Bitcoins and want dollars, you have to find someone who has dollars and wants Bitcoins, then you exchange with them.
Bitcoins are not a payment or fund transfer system for national currencies like PayPal and Western Union are. Bitrcoins are a currency that has an efficient built-in transfer system.

1022: <p>Can you eventually hold the bitcoins in your hand, like real cash dollars or euros or something? If so, how?</p>

<p>I've gone through all the service previews and introduction videos (actually, a video), and didn't see anything about this particular point.</p>

<p>I don't have a credit card, and I'm in a country where banking services aren't so profound and  people don't use credit cards (Libya). Does a Bitcoin account rely on having a credit card, and will the coins you gather be added to your bank account?</p>
 909: <p>Bitcoins have no central authority. There is no bank required. All Bitcoins are digital. You need only a computer (a PC, Smartphone, etc!) to use Bitcoins. There's no need to have physical coins or bills. That said there are some initiatives to offer physical coins for example <a href="https://www.casascius.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.casascius.com/</a>.</p>

<p>Take a look at <a href="http://www.weusecoins.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.weusecoins.com/</a> and <a href="http://lovebitcoins.org/" rel="nofollow">http://lovebitcoins.org/</a>.</p>

<p><br><br></p>

<p>( You could print the secret information that you can use your Bitcoin with, but it is not quite the same as cash. You could even get bank notes (redeemable Bitcoin "vouchers") from a trusted party. That is pretty much what cash is. You would also take a lot of unnecessary risk, which could give you the authentic cash experience. )</p>
 15: <p>You don't need a credit card to use Bitcoin, and you don't need any account anywhere. Just download the open source software from <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org" rel="nofollow">http://www.bitcoin.org</a></p>

<p>Bitcoin was born out of discontentment with traditional (central) banking, monetary, credit and transaction systems. That's why there is no central institution or authority behind Bitcoin that can administer you. How much one bitcoin is worth is entirely decided by free market dynamics within the community. That's possible because the supply of bitcoins is held artificially scarce.</p>

<p>It's a currency from the people for the people. If you and your community want to build an economy upon it, you all can get some GPUs or FPGAs and start <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining" rel="nofollow">mining</a>. It will be entirely up to initiatives in your community to build services that exchange to and from traditional (Libyan) currencies, to offer goods and services, or to manufacture physical coins similar to <a href="https://www.casascius.com/" rel="nofollow">Casascius</a> to put into circulation (although these are rather seen as a gimmick, it may be much more convenient to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6EucS5RS24" rel="nofollow">use mobile phone clients</a> nowadays for meatspace trading). Even in US and Europe where it's most popular, Bitcoin is still in its infancy and this process is only just happening.</p>

<p>If you happen to find Bitcoin inadequate to build a local economy upon, because you can't mine enough or you'd have to invest too much to <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Buying_bitcoins" rel="nofollow">buy some</a>, you may take a look at different concepts like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_monetary_system" rel="nofollow">Ripple</a> et al. These concepts build upon trust relationships however, you'll lose some of the features like the global scope and the (relative) anonymity/pseudonymity that Bitcoin offers. Money is a tool to transfer value after all. There are currently no known tools or technologies that can solve all problems at once if you don't want a currency that is enforced by an authority.</p>
 74: <p>If you mean physical bitcoins you can carry, there is:
<a href="https://www.casascius.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.casascius.com/</a>
(Beware, this is not safe anymore : <a href="http://codinginmysleep.com/casascius-physical-bitcoins-cracked-at-defcon/" rel="nofollow">http://codinginmysleep.com/casascius-physical-bitcoins-cracked-at-defcon/</a>)</p>

<p>I didn't quite understand the other parts of your question. Bitcoin don't rely on having a credit card nor having a bank account. <a href="https://www.bitinstant.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.bitinstant.com/</a> allow you to fund your exchange account with just cash.</p>
 153: <p>What you are looking for is likely a person-to-person exchange where you provide bitcoins and in exchange you get EURO currency.</p>

<p>While there is some of this happening in various places, it is not found everywhere.  There are no buyers or sellers listing Libya, ...yet:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://localbitcoins.com/country/ly" rel="nofollow">https://localbitcoins.com/country/ly</a>
Offering to exchange bitcoins to cash and vice-versa can be an income-generating activity, though in many areas doing so requires licensing.</li>
</ul>

<p>But where there's a will there's a way.</p>

<p>In the meantime, here's a list of various methods:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Selling_bitcoins" rel="nofollow">http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Selling_bitcoins</a></li>
</ul>
 2037: <p>Bitcoin doesn't need a bank account - your bitcoin wallet is your bank account, and you don't need any permission or paperwork to start using bitcoin.</p>

<p>For example, using <a href="https://localbitcoins.com" rel="noreferrer">localbitcoins.com</a> to change cash to bitcoins and vice versa, you don't need any kind of bank account at all.</p>
 85: <p>Bitcoins are a purely electronic currency. If you want to sell them in exchange for dollars or euros, you can do that. But as Bitcoins, they exist purely electronically. There are <a href="https://www.casascius.com/" rel="noreferrer">physical Bitcoins</a> but basically, they're just the key to an electronic account printed in some form.</p>

<p>I think you're missing the concept that Bitcoins act like a currency or commodity. You can have 10 Bitcoins just like you can have 10 ounces of gold. The key difference is that the Bitcoins exist electronically rather than phyiscally. If you have Bitcoins and want dollars, you have to find someone who has dollars and wants Bitcoins, then you exchange with them.</p>

<p>Bitcoins are not a payment or fund transfer system for national currencies like PayPal and Western Union are. Bitrcoins are a currency that has an efficient built-in transfer system.</p>
