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Bitcoin of minor relevance, says PSB

Risks to the payments system arising from the now-passing fad for the Bitcoin virtual currency "appear to be limited in the Australian context at this stage", an assessment prepared for the May meeting of the Payments System Board concluded.The PSB released the document on Friday following a Freedom of Information request.The PSB briefing noted: "there are currently no Bitcoin exchanges located in Australia, and very few Australian merchants accept Bitcoins (or any other virtual currency) as a payment method for their goods."It said the volume of Bitcoins purchased with, or sold for, Australian dollars at the now closed Mt.Gox exchange was "also relatively small, at an average daily turnover of 1710 Bitcoin units (around A$100,000 at the average price) during 2013."By contrast, the average daily turnover for US dollar purchase/sales was 86,000 Bitcoin units (around US$6.6 million at the average price).

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