crypto
crypto Lexical Profile
crypto Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to or involving cryptocurrency or blockchain technology.
"Regulators introduced stricter rules for crypto exchanges to protect retail investors."
Relating to cryptography or encryption.
"The defense agency upgraded its legacy crypto hardware to secure classified transmissions."
• noun
Cryptocurrency as a financial asset class, or a specific digital currency that uses cryptography for security and operates on a decentralized blockchain.
"Many younger investors allocate a small percentage of their savings to crypto."
The practice and study of cryptography, or a cryptographic system used to secure information.
"Before digital currencies emerged, computer scientists used the term crypto purely to discuss encryption protocols."
A person who secretly adheres to or supports a particular political creed, religion, or group while publicly claiming not to.
"During the Cold War, paranoid officials frequently accused their political rivals of being cryptos."
Word Nuance & Usage
In modern everyday usage, 'crypto' almost exclusively refers to cryptocurrency, which has caused computer security professionals to largely avoid using it as a shorthand for cryptography to prevent confusion.
• Rhymes for crypto
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek adjective 'kryptos' meaning 'hidden' or 'secret'; the standalone English word arose in the mid-20th century as a clipping of 'crypto-communist', later served as jargon for 'cryptography', and gained widespread currency in the 2010s as a clipping of 'cryptocurrency'.