Its no longer about whether a consumer chooses to pay with cash or credit, but whether they are using their Google Wallet, their Coin, or a form of payment that allows them to "email" their money from one bank account to another. Yet another form of payment, Bitcoin is now priced at over $600 and the subject of a US Congressional hearing this afternoon. On Friday at the 2013 Bitcoin Singapore Conference, China was cited as the reason Bitcoin soared past the $400 mark. High net worth individuals often invest in bitcoin as their traditional "go-to" investments such as real-estate and equities are no longer performing as desired. Interesting to note that the US government - traditionally a champion of the free market is looking to regulate this new currency while China is not taking a stance on the currency partially because it wants to see what the US and EU will do, in part because it wants to gauge the impact on the renimbi, and some believe its because the Chinese government hopes that Bitcoin will become a widely accepted substitute to the US dollar thereby creating a less US-centric global economy.