Risky business: The digital currency bitcoin is still in its infancy which leaves it vulnerable to malicious users. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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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.\" <\/p>\n
Crypto-currency fan: Entrepreneur Crystal Fong decided to try withdrawing bitcoin after both her ATM cards were cancelled while on a trip to Tokyo. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Cut out the middleman: Asher Tan, CEO and co-founder of CoinJar says Australia now has four major bitcoin exchanges. <\/p>\n
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