Cryptocurrency

How to spell cryptocurrency

14 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce cryptocurrency

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cryptocurrency mean?

1. nounA digital form of money that is secured by cryptography and typically operates without a central bank.

Cryptocurrency in a sentence

• He moved part of his savings into cryptocurrency after reading about the market.

• The firm now accepts cryptocurrency as payment for online purchases.

Where does cryptocurrency come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This is a modern compound that fuses two very old ideas. The first half, crypto-, comes from the Greek word kruptos, meaning 'hidden' or 'concealed', the same root that gives us 'cryptic' and 'cryptography', the study of hidden writing and codes. The second half, currency, descends from the Latin verb currere, meaning 'to run' or 'to flow', because money was thought of as something that circulates and runs through an economy. The word was coined in the early twenty-first century, gaining real traction after Bitcoin appeared in 2009, to describe digital money secured by cryptography rather than backed by a government. The spelling trap lives in that first element: it is crypto with a 'y', not 'cripto', because the 'y' preserves the Greek upsilon hidden inside kruptos. Once you remember that cryptography and cryptic share the same hidden 'y', the spelling of cryptocurrency falls neatly into place.

How the word is built

• crypto- (from Greek kruptos: hidden)
• currency (from Latin currere: to run, flow)