In a relatively short period of time, virtual currencies ("VC") have gained significant traction and become an economic reality, with Bitcoin being the most dominant among over 500 virtual currencies. Their advent, beginning with Bitcoin in 2008, has quickly exploded into an emerging financial ecosystem that offers new possibilities for peer-to-peer payment systems, money transmission and investment opportunities not only for purchasers and sellers of virtual currencies, but also for investors in virtual currency business activity, and perhaps more significantly, for consumers.