Bitcoin is continuing to make an impact world-wide:

• Wells Fargo calls Bitcoin summit to discuss ‘rules of engagement’ as demand continues but also as concerns grow. 
• Alibaba, the biggest e-commerce network, has banned all Bitcoin payment
• Overstock.com, the second largest retailer in the US, has begun accepting Bitcoin payments.

The problem for corporate treasurers is that Bitcoin is not the only virtual currency and there are more in development. Bitcoin competitors include:

• Litecoin, the ’silver to Bitcoin’s gold’. One key difference is that Litecoin's mining system makes it harder to use specialized computer hardware to gain control of the system.
• Other digital currencies include: Dogecoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, RonPaulCoin, Quark coin.

And then there are:

• the Royal Canadian Mint’s digital currency MintChip which is similar to RBS’s/MasterCard’s Mondex and will launch later this year
• Amazon Coins which is a new virtual currency U.S. customers can use to purchase Kindle Fire-compatible apps, games, and digital in-app items.

More global e-commerce / business networks such as Alibaba and Apple are likely to try to develop their own digital currency, but success is not guaranteed: Facebook, the biggest network of all, tried with dismal results and had to withdraw it.

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CTMfile take: Corporate treasurers need to be very cautious about whether to accept digital currencies. On two or three, at best, are going to survive, just like the global payment card scheme. However, development of the payment card industry also shows that local digital currencies covering just one or two countries could make it big time. Hold off for a year or so.