Last year was the year of thecrypto-currency. "Virtual" P2P (peer to peer) currencies such asBitcoin, Litecoin, and the meme-inspired, Dogecoin surged into popularity inthe span of just one year. Last year has also seen the dramatic rise, andsubsequent notoriety, of Bitcoin. From just US$15 at January 2013, the value ofa single bitcoin surged past the US$1000 mark by November 2013. It was aphenomenal rise that few people had ever imagined for a financial entity thatis freely unregulated and not backed by a government or any other hard assetsuch as gold.