This is so misguided at some many levels, I don't even know where to start. Do you at least understand that when you are trading futures, you are subject to the same risk-premium capture (positive or negative) as you are when you are trading ETFs?
It won't go to "zero" only because Barclays will declare a reverse split as the note value nears 10. If you are speculating as to whether or not the note value might shed another 15 pre-split dollars over the next year or two, the answer is yes.
VXX has effectively gone to zero. Any VIX ETF that has a hard-coded algorithm for positions and rolling... And many of them do... Can be reverse-calculated... All the way back to March 2004 (introduction of VIX). (just google this). VXX would have been trading at 1700 in March 2004... So it's gone from 1700 to 16.54 = 99% decline. And it will do so again over the next 10 years... But it's not trivial to withstand 500% spikes... And maintain a short in terms of Stock Loan, etc So you can't just short VXX long term... But you can set up hedges... That capture most of the roll yield.
Some past threads regarding VXX: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=239213 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=240342&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 Regarding the question of whether it "cannot go to 0", Barclays can announce a 1 for 4 reverse split anytime the VXX falls below 25: http://www.ipathetn.com/static/pdf/ipath-split-FAQs.pdf
To get back to the OP "is VXX a good buy". Pros sell options for a living = sell time premium... Often at highly inflated rates... Likely because retail/public perception of future volatility... Is always too high.... Or retail/public/hedge funds are willing to overpay. Since VIX is based on SPX option prices... Pros sell VIX and VIX related ETN/ETFs... As a proxy for selling SPX options. So the only intelligent question is... "Is it a good time to short VXX"? Cliff Notes = Pros always sell volatilty http://www.surlytrader.com/volatility-selling-strategies/
I Lost my ass in TVIX Have 1700 Shares @ $6.55 averaged from $8 Even with the downgrade and fear in the market with Greece , spain it just does not go up Next time i would probably by sds , tza , or some index etff TVIX , VXX is a big mistake