Couple Completes 101-Day World Tour Entirely on Bitcoin

Austin Craig and his wife Beccy Bingham-Craig have covered three continents in their world-wide Odyssey relying on the use of increasingly popular virtual currency, bitcoin.

The Wall Street Journal reports the couple proved that people can live on bitcoin alone, as a growing number of stores, travel agents and online merchants now accept the currency for payments.

They started their journey from Provo in the US state of Utah, and subsequently went to New York to fly to Stockholm, followed by Berlin and Singapore. The couple returned to Provo after the 101-day adventure from 23 July to 1 November.

"It's been consistently inconvenient and occasionally frustrating, but never impossible," WSJ quoted Mr Craig as saying.

Starting their journey on 23 July, the Craigs were using bitcoin for all payments from rent to food to gas.

When they started, one bitcoin was worth about $98 (£61, €73). The value of the virtual currency peaked around $400 per coin on 13 November from $13 in January.

Growing Popularity

Bitcoin, the peer-to-peer virtual currency, was launched in 2008 and is traded within a global network of computers. They can be transferred without going through banks or clearing houses, reducing fees involved significantly.

Bitcoin can only be passed from one person to another electronically. It is currently being used by a large number of businesses and consumers to sell and buy products and services.

Meanwhile, investors are using the coin as a gold equivalent to hedge against currency fluctuations. The currency is not backed by any government or companies.

The first ever bitcoin ATM in the world was launched earlier in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada, as the virtual money is getting popular among more businesses, consumers and investors. The ATM operated by Nevada-based Robocoin and Vancouver's Bitcoiniacs offers an almost instant way to exchange the digital currency for cash.

Despite its rising popularity, critics say that bitcoins could be used for drug transactions, money-laundering and other illegal activities due to its near anonymity.

Earlier in October, US regulators shut down an online marketplace using bitcoins named Silk Road on charges of buying and selling illegal drugs and regulators seized $3.6m worth of bitcoins.