Risky business: The digital currency bitcoin is still in its infancy which leaves it vulnerable to malicious users.

Moving money overseas is notoriously expensive. The way to avoid being gouged by brutal online banking costs could be to enlist the power of the alternative currency bitcoin.

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Just ask entrepreneur Crystal Fong, 29, who runs a Melbourne copywriting collective. Recently, when Fong was in Tokyo establishing a pop-up office, both her bankcards were cancelled after some ATM trouble. The cards were with two different banks that gave the same story: "All we can do is send a new PIN to your address in Australia it'll take five to sevenworking days."

Crypto-currency fan: Entrepreneur Crystal Fong decided to try withdrawing bitcoin after both her ATM cards were cancelled while on a trip to Tokyo.

Her mind turned to bitcoin, which she knew is not for everyone, particularly in Japan the crash of the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, has fuelled doubt about its stability, according to Fong.

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"But I was on my last 1000 yen in a ridiculously expensive city, with two cancelled debit cards," she says. Opening a bitcoin wallet and road-testing the digital currency seemed far less risky than trying to survive "on 10 bucks for five to sevenworking days", she adds.

So, using the on-the-go bitcoin wallet CoinJar, she withdrew it in yen from a bar-room bitcoin ATM in buzzy Roppongi behind her, chatter arose about the potential and downsides of the crypto-currency that spawns controversy and curiosity.

Cut out the middleman: Asher Tan, CEO and co-founder of CoinJar says Australia now has four major bitcoin exchanges.

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Mighty cheap: Is bitcoin the future of global payments?