crypto

1 of 2

noun

cryp·​to ˈkrip-(ˌ)tō 

plural cryptos

1

: cryptocurrency

A specialty finance firm … is the first to offer brokers the option to get their commissions paid up front, in crypto, underscoring how digital coins are becoming a more mainstream part of financial transactions.

—Jennifer Schonberger

—often used before another noun

crypto assets

the crypto market

2

: cryptography sense 2

3

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

And jaws dropped, he said, when he explained the theory that Christopher Columbus was a "crypto" or hidden Jew.

—Kim Vo

crypto-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or before a vowel crypt-

1

: hidden : covered

cryptogenic

2

: hidden by dissembling : unavowed

crypto-fascist

3

: cryptographic

cryptanalysis

Examples of crypto in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The network known as Fairshake spent $40 million in 2024 to unseat Brown, then the Senate Banking Committee chair; after Brown lost, crypto antagonist-in-chief Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts replaced him as the panel’s top Democrat. — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 28 Oct. 2026

A lot of these crypto people, who maybe didn’t have buzzing social lives—wallflowers who didn’t know how to communicate—became billionaires. — Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026

Many observers credited the crypto lobby, which spent forty million dollars to defeat Brown, who, as the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, had pushed for more regulation of the industry. — Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2026

Chief Financial Officer Shiv Verma told CNBC event contracts on crypto movements did well in the quarter, offering investors another way to express a view on crypto despite the slump in prices and spot trading. — Tanaya MacHeel, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

(senses 1 & 2) by shortening; (sense 3) independent use of crypto-

Combining form

combining form from Greek kryptós "hidden, secret" — more at crypt

First Known Use

Noun

1946, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Medical Definition

crypto

noun

cryp·​to ˈkrip-(ˌ)tō 

: cryptosporidium sense 2

also : cryptosporidiosis