"It seems China is fairly quick to take note of the recent bitcoin craze," he added. "We are trying to improve our user base in China, right now I think our main market is the English speaking world."
At a U.S. Senate hearing on virtual currencies last month, lawmakers signaled a willingness to accept bitcoin as a legitimate payment alternative. The outcome allayed concerns that the government would take steps that could undercut the mainstream adoption of digital currencies. This in turn helped fuel a rally in bitcoin.
(Read more: Bitcoin breaks $1,000 barrier for first time)
"I am fine with the risks, I mean sure it would be nice that it goes to legal status smoothly but regardless, I think the movement would survive and thrive on its own," King said, talking about regulation of digital currencies.
The design of peercoin began in October 2011 and the cryptocurrency was released in August 2012, King said.
It is ranked the number three cryptocurrency by coinmarkecap.com and has a market value of about $100 million.
Peercoin was trading at $5.049 on the BTC-e exchange on Friday, while bitcoin was at $972.98 and number two ranked virtual currency litecoin was valued at $34.227
King said the growth in peercoin had exceeded his expectations.
"I think it's a step by step process, you get acknowledged as a store-of-value first and then as a medium of exchange, lastly as a unit of account," he added.
(Read more: BofA: Bitcoin can become 'major means of payment' for e-commerce)
In another sign of the growing interest in digital currencies, Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Thursday issued a research note on bitcoin.
—By CNBC.Com's Dhara Ranasinghe; Follow her on Twitter @DharaCNBC