Bitcoin arrived on the scene in 2009 during the global financial crisis and at that time there were great hopes bitcoin might offer a viable alternative to a mainstream financial system that was clearly struggling.

Six years later Bitcoin has yet to gain widespread acceptance either as a digital commodity or currency. It has been at the centre of a number of scandals and linked closely to the illicit drug trading site the silk road. But despite all this the idea behind bitcoin is still being taken very seriously by governments, silicon valley and the finance industry. So why such interest?

New York Times reporter and author Nathaniel Popper has the inside story of Bitcoin and the people who are trying to reinvent money.

Highlights of Digital Gold, the Museum of American Finance, Wall st New York, 16th June 2015.