Digital currency firm Digital CC has increased the number of bitcoins it has earned from bitcoin "mining" and says the bitcoin system is going from strength to strength.
Digital CC, which trades as digitalBTC, was the first bitcoin-focused company to trade on the Australian Securities Exchange, in June 2014.
Digital currency is a medium of exchange that is electronically created and stored - there are no physical notes or coins.
Digital currencies can be used as alternatives to currencies such as the dollar, yen and pound.
The use of digital currencies is not as widespread as that of conventional currencies: banks do not use digital currencies, and digital currencies may be considered speculative or risky.
There are several digital currencies, but bitcoin dominates the market.
Bitcoin "mining" describes the process of earning new bitcoins, which can then be converted to a major currency.
Bitcoin mining involves the use of powerful computers to verify bitcoin transactions within the bitcoin network.
New bitcoins are created and assigned by the bitcoin network to the providers of verification services, such as digitalBTC.
Digital CC said in a quarterly cashflow report on Thursday that it had earned about 8,600 bitcoins through mining to date. On June 10, Digital CC reported that it had earned more than 5,100 bitcoins.
The current Bitcoin price was $US620. In early June, bitcoins were trading at $US640 on major international exchanges.
Digital CC said it had sold 4,000 bitcoins earned through mining for about $US2.1 million up to June 30.
"Bitcoin mining has offered us exceptional results to date," Digital CC executive chairman Zhenya Tsvetnenko said.
"The bitcoin system continues to go from strength to strength, with significant new investments and major merchants coming on board."
Mr Tsvetnenko said the recent move by global technology firm Dell to accept bitcoin as a payment option for online purchases demonstrated the capacity of the bitcoin system to offer enhanced returns for retailers.
Digital CC said the value of the bitcoins it had sold, plus the remaining balance of bitcoins held, now exceeded the total amount of money that Digital CC had spent on computer equipment for mining bitcoins and the power needed to operate it.
Digital CC said the company had now achieved "complete payback" of its original $US4 million equipment purchase and operating costs to date.
Shares in Digital CC were steady at 34 cents at 1417 AEST.
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