Bitcoin’s popularity sky-rocketed in the next few years, driven primarily by the unprecedented possibilities that it enabled within the finance sector. However, in 2017, the community failed to reach a consensus regarding the network’s state, resulting in a hard fork that formed Bitcoin Cash.

Launched in 2009, Bitcoin is the world’s first cryptocurrency, also known as "Digital Gold". Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder, introduced Bitcoin as ‘Open Source Peer-2-Peer Money’ for secured, verifiable digital transactions without involving intermediaries like banks.

Digital currencies and other financial services allow us to use money in a “seamless” and “hassle-free” manner. Yet, these developments have done little to solve the core problems of traditional finance: centralisation and lack of transparency.

To help decipher some of the biggest influences on the price of Bitcoin, bitFlyer Europe talked to Sho Koyama, a Japanese personal investor, who has been tracking crypto asset trends since 2013.

Ethereum is the second-largest blockchain-cryptocurrency platform after Bitcoin, in terms of market capitalisation. It was conceived by Vitalik Buterin—then 19 years old—and formally launched in 2015.