1) Decentralized
5) Peer-to-Peer
These are actually the same thing, are they not? And you are presuming that this is a good thing. All other considerations being equal (like availability and legality) downloading something from a central location is typically much easier / faster / better than bittorrenting it. There is a reason that the internet routes traffic through a few high-capacity backbones instead of forcing all traffic to bounce from computer to computer in some sort of crazy mesh peer-to-peer network.
They're similar, but not quite the same. Peer-to-peer I mentioned in reference to the network itself. But, decentralized I mentioned in reference to not just the network, but everything in regards to the bitcoin ecosystem. For example, there is no one single person who created it. No one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is or if it is even a single person. This was done on purpose as a truly decentralized network needs to not have a central authority over it. The development team is decentralized. There is no central exchange. There is no central wallet software that's required to use it. There is no central media authority over what bitcoin is or isn't. Decentralization runs so much deeper than just the peer-to-peer aspect of the network itself. This is what ultimately makes it so resistant to government control.
It is funny that you mention BitTorrent. It isn't true that BitTorrent is slower than centralized connections. BitTorrent can not only offer faster downloads, but can do it for cheaper. There is a reason why many large downloads (such as OS images) offer BitTorrent links as an option for download. Not only is it usually faster, but it can be offered that way for very cheap. Downloading a 5GB file from 1000 seeders that are each offering 200Kb/sec speeds will be a lot faster than downloading from an entity that you can download from at 100Mb/sec. Also, the fact that you're talking about internet routing over backbones as an argument against decentralization tells me you don't have any idea how internet routing and BGP work. If everything on the internet needed to be routed over the backbones of the internet, then the internet would not function and could never handle the total aggregate data sent daily across the network, so your argument against decentralization fails miserably here.
2) Global
Practically speaking, so is Visa.
Practically doesn't mean anything here. Only about 30 countries have what would be considered modern financial services. Roughly 4 billion people don't have access to modern financial services such as credit, savings, and insurance. So while VISA may make the claim that they offer services in 200 countries, as they do, that doesn't mean that the people of these countries has the capability to access their services. All one needs to have access to the bitcoin network is a phone and an internet connection. This is true regardless of the geographic location of that individual. Thus, by having access to the bitcoin network regardless of geographic location, you can therefore participate freely in the global economy. Therefore, Bitcoin is global, VISA is not.
3) Permission-less (anyone, anywhere can use it)
10) Can't be confiscated
Okay, but that seems to have limited utility in first-world nations outside of illegal activity.
As I said, there are 4 billion+ that lack access to banking services. Being permission-less means that they can have access to the financial services that bitcoin offers without discrimination. The fact that bitcoin can't be confiscated also means that many of the world's high net worth individuals will also be looking to bitcoin as a safe haven asset much like gold. But, instead of needing their own gold vault to store physical gold bars in, they can simply store their wealth digitally. High net worth individuals like to use safe haven assets like that because once an individual becomes rich, they like to ensure that they'll always be rich even when the sh*t hits the fan. The fact that bitcoin offers this is an extremely enticing benefit to the world's rich.
4) Counterfeit proof
7) Nearly unhackable
8) Immutable
I wouldn't really call these benefits, that's just what allows cryptocurrencies to exist as an electronic-only currency. There may be some value to the fact that it's counterfeit proof, but that's a direct contradiction to this next one.
These are all benefits. Just because you don't see them as such, doesn't mean anything. Being counterfeit proof doesn't just extend to the currency token itself. Anything digital can be make immutable and counterfeit proof. The rootstock network can be used for smart contracts that will allow for a massive amount of possibilities. Essentially the future need for notaries will become a thing of the past. Anything notarized can simply be put on the blockchain and become as immutable as bitcoin's blockchain itself. Bitcoin's blockchain will change how we handle digital information in the future. All other blockchains from other alt-coins don't offer the same level of security and immutability that bitcoin's blockchain provides. This is a huge advantage to bitcoin and a massive feature that can't be overstated.
How is being nealy unhackable not a benefit? Not sure how or why you lumped that one in there. The fact that it is decentralized and immutable makes it an extremely difficult to attempt to alter or compromise the network. It is also virtually quantum computer proof with the use of public keys that are hidden until after wallet addresses are emptied.
6) Fraud proof consumer protection
No, no it's not. If I the consumer am defrauded by an online merchant (intentionally or on accident), with Visa I can initiate a charge-back and my money will reappear in my account in a mater of days. With Bitcoin I have no recourse and have just lost whatever Bitcoin I have irrevocably transferred. This in-and-of itself is an enormous advantage that traditional payment networks have over Bitcoin.
I'll reference my previous post on this one in case you missed it:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/is-it-too-late-(bitcoin)/msg1781165/#msg1781165As someone who works in Information Security in the financial services industry, I understand first-hand the shortcomings of how our traditional financial systems operate. Furthermore, as you mention chargebacks can occur due to the fact that our current centralized financial intermediaries must act as mediators to all financial transactions that take place. This comes at great cost to the consumer. On top of that, merchants that offer irreversible services are always at risk of chargebacks. This leads to another benefit of bitcoin that I didn't list in the sense that all transactions are irreversible. This allows merchants who offer irreversible services to receive irreversible transactions. There is a reason why many contractors today look to receive some type of down payment for services requested prior to doing any work.
9) Extensible for use with smart contracts
Okay, great I guess. There may be an extremely limited use-case for that. I'll get really excited when the software industry learns how to always write bug-free code.
Saying "Okay, great I guess." shows how little innovative foresight you have into how new technologies can transform the way we do things today. There is a reason why Overstock's stock has sky-rocketed recently with the announcement that they're looking to reissue their stocks via their own blockchain to counter the damage that was done to their stock via naked short selling. The bitcoin network will be used in ways that are completely revolutionary and unforeseen today. Writing bug-free code is irrevelant to this fact. Putting innovation on hold until bug-free code is presentable is a stifling attitude to take.
11) Low cost/fast transactions
No, it's not. Visa transactions have always been faster and are already cheaper.
Yes, it is fast and it is low cost. I sent $80k dollars last week on a Friday late at night after-hours for only $5. No traditional financial institution could've provided that same capability with as low of a cost. VISA transactions cost 2-4% and while those transactions don't show up on your receipts, they are baked into the costs of all purchases we make at merchants that accept VISA. Finally, merchants who accept VISA transactions, don't receive payment for those transactions until the end of the month. Meanwhile, during that time they're at risk of chargebacks. Therefore, finality of payment for VISA transactions is a month whereas with Bitcoin it is typically at most a day before confirmation and transactions that take a day to confirm are much cheaper than 2-4%.
I find this infographic very informative about the state of bitcoin's ecosystem. When discussing what bitcoin is and everything that goes with it, this provides good insight to it. Much of this ecosystem is specific to bitcoin itself and is something that no other alt-coin provides. The fact that several derivatives markets are opening up soon specifically for bitcoin futher puts all other alt-coins at a severe disadvantage when competing against bitcoin.
EDIT: I shrunk the image below since it was massive and here is a link to the full size image so people can look at the details without taking up so much space in this thread...
http://www.runtogold.com/images/bitcoin-ecosystem.jpg