A digital or virtual currency that is created and issued by private market participants, rather than central authorities or incumbent financial institutions (e.g., banks). A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is designed to function as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not run by any central authority, such as a government or a bank. The network uses cryptography for security.

The transactions involving cryptocurrency are verified and recorded on the network by a decentralized system for bookkeeping and maintenance. By composition, a crypto constitutes an encrypted data string that embodies a unit of currency. It is monitored and maintained by a peer-to-peer network known as a blockchain.

Cryptocurrency is a class of digital assets that are created and maintained without the intervention of a central authority. Examples include bitcoin and ethereum.

In a corresponding, yet a bit different context, crypto is an abbreviated form of cryptography. The process and techniques that are applied to secure information using mathematical concepts and a set of rule-based protocols (algorithms), to transform information flows in a secure, encoded way.