crypto

noun cryp·to \ ˈkrip-(ˌ)tō \

|Updated on: 16 Aug 2018

Definition of crypto

plural cryptos

1 : a person who adheres or belongs secretly to a party, sect, or other group

2 : cryptography 2

Recent Examples of crypto from the Web

The speech comes amid ongoing uncertainty over the legal status of digital tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and is being parsed closely by lawyers and by the crypto community.

— jeff john roberts, Fortune, "The SEC's Big Cryptocurrency Speech: 5 Things to Know," 15 June 2018
The work is a reference to a half-serious joke in the crypto community about using profits to buy Lambos.

— recode staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Will Apple ever merge the iPhone and Mac operating systems?," 6 June 2018
Practices like spoofing -- a form of cheating that regulators have spent years stamping out in futures and equities markets -- have fueled concerns about whether crypto trading is adequately monitored.

— Bloomberg.com, "Mario Draghi Answers Questions at ECB News Conference," 26 Apr. 2018
Despite a potential crackdown on U.S. initial coin offerings, many upstart crypto-trading platforms are barreling into uncharted territory.

— tomio geron, WSJ, "New Wave of Firms Race to Capitalize on ICO Gold Rush," 16 Apr. 2018
The crypto community’s response resulted in over $1 million in Bitcoin donations as a way to thank Antonopoulos for his service.

— camila russo and lily katz, Houston Chronicle, "Catching up on crypto: A field guide to digital-money culture," 2 Feb. 2018
In fact, several websites that track the crypto community said that those with knowledge of the currency suspected that Bitconnect was running a Ponzi scheme by paying out existing loan interest with new loans.

— grace schneider, The Courier-Journal, "A Louisville investor says he was duped into a Bitcoin investment scheme. Now he's suing," 30 Jan. 2018
Autonomous Partners holds a broad swath of major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Bitcoin, both of which have historical and nostalgia-related significance in the crypto sphere.

— lucinda shen, Fortune, "Term Sheet - Friday, July 13," 13 July 2018
Others like Google, Twitter and Snapchat also banned crypto ads.

— kurt wagner, Recode, "Facebook is reversing its ban on cryptocurrency ads," 26 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crypto.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of crypto

(sense 1) independent use of crypto-; (sense 2) by shortening

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1946

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

crypto

adjective

Definition of crypto

1 : not openly avowed or declared —often used in combination

crypto-fascist

2 : cryptographic

Recent Examples of crypto from the Web

The Securities and Exchange Commission warned in March that many crypto trading platforms were potentially unlawful.

— alexander osipovich, WSJ, "New York Stock Exchange Executive to Join Winklevoss Bitcoin Firm," 6 July 2018
Did an owl do it? Plus: The world's biggest crypto scandal and the physicists who watched a clock tick for 14 years.

— andrea valdez, WIRED, "Top Stories in June 2018: An Alternate Theory About 'The Staircase'," 30 June 2018
As the digital money frenzy of the past few years cools, the crypto coin graveyard is filling up.

— Fortune, "Crypto Coin Graveyard Fills Up Fast as ICOs Meet Their Demise," 28 June 2018
The contrarian Samani knows many in the crypto world disagree with him—but that’s never stopped him before.

— jen wieczner, Fortune, "Why This Cryptocurrency Fund Is Long Ethereum and EOS, Short Litecoin and Ripple," 29 June 2018
Angus, or Cryptonomatron, comes across as analytical by the standards of the crypto world, breaking down the pros and cons of each ICO in his videos.

— justina lee, latimes.com, "Cryptocurrency influencers hype up coin offerings, sometimes making $105,000 a tweet," 26 June 2018
Research from the London Block Exchange found that interest in crypto investments is growing among millennial women, with one in five female millennials considering it.

— refinery29.com, "The Money Question You're Too Embarrassed To Ask: What Is Bitcoin?," 12 June 2018
Get our daily newsletter Blockchain technology, which underpins crypto-currencies, could be one way to avoid the banks.

— The Economist, "Central banks should consider offering accounts to everyone," 26 May 2018
Matsumoto, who declined to specify a timeline for the U.S. expansion, has a lot riding on his crypto bet: Monex shares have surged 98 percent since news of the Coincheck takeover emerged last month, the biggest gain in Japan’s benchmark Topix Index.

— Fortune, "Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Coincheck Is Plotting Its Comeback," 18 May 2018

First Known Use of crypto

1681

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Medical Dictionary

crypto

noun cryp·to \ ˈkrip-(ˌ)tō \

medical Definition of crypto

: cryptosporidium 2; also : cryptosporidiosis

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