From Silk Road to ATMs: the history of bitcoin

The digital currency lost 10% of its value after the JP Morgan boss described it as fraud - but it has come a long way since it was started in 2009

Bitcoin is a digital currency started in 2009 by a mystery figure named Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity is still unknown. It is unlike traditional currencies because it has no central bank, nation state or regulatory authority backing it up.

The "coins" are made by computers solving a set of complex maths problems. To spend them, users buy bitcoin and conduct transactions with them using exchanges such as San Francisco-based Coinbase. Rather than a central authority validating transactions, they are all recorded on a public ledger, called the blockchain.