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Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that uses cryptography and a blockchain or similar distributed ledger to record and transfer value. Some crypto assets are designed to work like money; others support software applications, track a reference value, or represent collectibles or financial interests. They are not all alike: an asset’s purpose, risks, legal treatment, and way of working depend on its design and the network behind it.
The simplest way to understand crypto is to separate the asset from the network that records it, the wallet or custodian that controls access, and the rules used to validate transactions.
What does “cryptocurrency” mean?
The word combines three ideas:
- Crypto: Cryptography helps create digital signatures, protect private keys, and verify that a transaction was authorized.
- Currency: Some assets are intended to be used as a medium of exchange, a store of value, or a unit of account. Many assets commonly called cryptocurrencies are not primarily used as money.
- Digital: Ownership and transaction records exist electronically on a network.
In everyday use, “cryptocurrency” is a broad label. It can refer to Bitcoin, ether, dollar-pegged stablecoins, and other tokens. The broader term crypto asset can also cover NFTs and blockchain-recorded financial interests. The name alone does not tell you what rights an asset provides or whether it is decentralized, private, or legally a currency. The SEC’s Investor.gov overview discusses the broad range of assets associated with crypto technology.
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The U.S. dollar is government-issued money whose supply and payment systems are shaped by public institutions and the banking system. Many cryptocurrencies instead rely on rules encoded in software and a network of participating computers. That distinction does not mean crypto always cuts out intermediaries: people often buy or hold it through exchanges, brokers, custodians, or investment products.
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| Feature | Fiat money, such as U.S. dollars | Many cryptocurrencies |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer or control | Government, central bank, and banking system | May be governed by a protocol, issuer, company, or other arrangement |
| Transaction records | Banks, payment networks, and government systems | Often a blockchain or similar distributed ledger |
| Supply | Influenced by monetary policy and the banking system | May be fixed by protocol rules, change over time, or depend on reserves or issuer decisions |
| Reversals | Some bank and card payments can be disputed or reversed | Many confirmed on-chain transfers are difficult or impossible to reverse |
| Access | Usually through banks and payment providers | Through wallets, exchanges, custodians, or other services |
| Legal status | Legal tender in its issuing jurisdiction | Varies by asset, activity, and jurisdiction; not automatically legal tender |
How cryptocurrency works
Blockchain: the shared record
A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger: participating computers keep and update copies of a transaction record according to common rules. Transactions are grouped into blocks, and cryptographic hashes link each block to the preceding one. Network participants check whether transactions follow the rules; a consensus mechanism helps the network agree on the accepted history.
That history can be difficult to alter after a transaction has been sufficiently confirmed, but “immutable” is not absolute. The practical difficulty of changing records depends on the network and its rules. Not every blockchain is public, permissionless, or decentralized, and not every blockchain has a cryptocurrency.
Blockchain is infrastructure; cryptocurrency is an asset that may be issued, transferred, or used on that infrastructure. Some digital-asset definitions also encompass similar distributed-ledger technology rather than only blockchains.
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Addresses, private keys, and signatures
A blockchain address is a destination others can use to send an asset. A private key is a secret credential that can authorize transactions from an address. A wallet uses or manages keys to create a digital signature—a way for the network to verify that a transaction was authorized without revealing the private key itself.
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Addresses and transactions on many public blockchains can be viewed by anyone. That makes crypto more accurately described as pseudonymous than anonymous: an address does not necessarily display a person’s name, but activity may be linked to an identity through exchange records, address reuse, or other information.
A transaction, step by step
Suppose a person sends cryptocurrency to another person:
- The sender enters the recipient’s address and an amount in a wallet.
- The wallet creates a transaction and signs it with the sender’s private key.
- The wallet broadcasts the signed transaction to the network.
- Network computers check that it follows the protocol’s rules, including that the funds can be spent.
- A miner or validator includes the transaction in a block, depending on the network’s consensus system.
- Other participants accept the block and build on it. Additional confirmations generally make it more likely that the transaction will remain in the accepted history.
- A network fee may be paid as part of the transaction.
On Ethereum, for example, a transaction may send ETH or interact with a smart contract—software that runs according to rules on the network. The transaction can wait in a queue, be included in a block by a proposer, and update an account or application’s state. Confirmation times and fees vary by network conditions and transaction type; “sent” or “pending” does not necessarily mean the recipient has a completed transfer.
Take care with the network and address. A transfer to the wrong address or an incompatible network may be unrecoverable. An exchange balance is also not necessarily an on-chain balance in a wallet you control: a provider may record customer balances internally, and withdrawals may be processed separately.
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Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto assets
Bitcoin and BTC
Bitcoin is the name of a peer-to-peer payment network and its native cryptocurrency, commonly abbreviated BTC. Its original design uses proof-of-work: miners use computing power to compete to add blocks, helping order transactions and making the accepted history costly to rewrite. Bitcoin’s protocol specifies a supply limit commonly described as 21 million BTC. That is a protocol rule, not a physical guarantee; changing it would require broad acceptance of different rules by the network.
Ethereum and ether (ETH)
Ethereum is a programmable blockchain that supports smart contracts and applications. Its native cryptocurrency is ether, abbreviated ETH. ETH is used to pay network fees and plays a role in the network’s proof-of-stake security system. Ethereum moved from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in 2022. These terms are not interchangeable: Ethereum is the network; ether is its native asset.
Bitcoin and Ethereum therefore differ in purpose and design. Bitcoin focuses on a peer-to-peer monetary system and transaction record; Ethereum supports programmable applications as well as transfers of ETH and other assets.
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- Altcoins: An informal term for cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. It is not a precise technical or legal category.
- Stablecoins: Crypto assets designed to track a reference value, commonly the U.S. dollar. Designs may rely on reserves, collateral, algorithms, or a combination. “Stable” describes an aim, not a guarantee that the peg will hold or that holders can always redeem at the target value.
- Tokens: Assets issued on an existing blockchain. They may be used for access, governance, payments, or other purposes, but a token does not automatically give its holder legal rights or a claim on a company.
- NFTs: Non-fungible tokens are individually distinguishable blockchain-recorded assets. An NFT may relate to art, music, a ticket, a game item, or a membership. Owning the token does not automatically mean owning the related copyright or underlying work.
- Tokenized securities: Financial interests such as stocks, bonds, or fund interests represented or recorded as tokens. The holder’s rights depend on the offering and legal arrangements; they may not be identical to rights in a traditional instrument.
In the United States, legal classification depends on the asset’s features, activity, and applicable law—not simply on the word “crypto.” In March 2026, the SEC and CFTC issued an interpretation and related guidance describing categories including digital commodities, digital tools, stablecoins, digital collectibles, and digital securities. That framework does not make every asset in a broad category legally identical. See the SEC announcement and the related interpretive release. Laws and rules differ outside the United States and can change.
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What is cryptocurrency used for?
Uses vary by asset and network. They can include:
- Sending value directly between people or across borders.
- Making or settling payments with some stablecoins.
- Paying fees to use a blockchain or its applications.
- Running smart-contract applications, including some decentralized finance services.
- Trading, lending, or providing liquidity through crypto services—activities that can carry substantial risk.
- Recording collectibles, memberships, tickets, credentials, or tokenized financial interests.
- Holding an asset in expectation that its price will rise.
Using a network is different from buying its token as an investment. Someone might use a blockchain application for a particular task without deciding that its native asset is suitable to hold long term.
Why do crypto assets have value?
There is no single answer for every asset. A market price may reflect usefulness for payments or network access, scarcity or issuance rules, demand and liquidity, expectations about future adoption, or speculation. A stablecoin’s value target may depend on the assets and arrangements supporting it; a token may also be linked to stated utility or rights. Technology by itself does not guarantee value. Prices can fall sharply as demand, liquidity, market sentiment, leverage, or regulation changes. The CFTC’s virtual-currency risk advisory describes risks for people considering these markets.
Mining and staking
What mining means
Mining is used by proof-of-work networks such as Bitcoin. Miners use computing power to compete to add blocks. A successful miner may receive a block reward and transaction fees under the network’s rules. Mining helps order transactions and makes rewriting the record expensive, but it is not free money: profitability depends on hardware, electricity, network difficulty, rewards, fees, and the asset’s market price. Many crypto assets are not mined.
What staking means
Staking is associated with proof-of-stake networks. Validators commit or lock assets to help secure the network and may receive rewards for participating. Depending on the network and service, risks can include penalties or slashing for certain failures, lock-up or unbonding periods, validator problems, smart-contract vulnerabilities, and the asset losing value. Staking rewards are not guaranteed interest or risk-free income. Ethereum’s documentation explains that validators can lose stake for dishonest behavior and that its proof-of-stake transition reduced Ethereum’s energy use by more than 99%; that figure concerns Ethereum, not every crypto network.
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How people buy and store cryptocurrency
People commonly acquire crypto through an exchange or broker, although offerings and legal availability vary by country and, in the United States, sometimes by state. Before using a service, check which assets it supports, its total fees and spreads, withdrawal rules, custody arrangement, identity-verification requirements, and whether withdrawals to a personal wallet are available.
- Choose a provider or product legally available where you live; do not assume an exchange account, brokerage product, and direct crypto holding provide the same ownership or protections.
- Secure the account with a unique password and strong two-factor authentication, preferably an authenticator app or hardware security key where available.
- Review the order type. A market order prioritizes execution at available prices; a limit order sets a price threshold; recurring and instant-buy options may have different pricing or fees.
- Check the full cost, including spread, trading fee, payment fee, and any network withdrawal fee.
- Decide whether to leave the asset with the provider or move it to a wallet you control, understanding the trade-offs.
- Keep transaction records for tax reporting and personal account reconciliation.
What a crypto wallet does
A crypto wallet generally does not store coins like a physical wallet stores cash. The assets are represented in the network’s records; a wallet manages the keys or credentials used to access and authorize transactions associated with them.
- Custodial wallet: A company controls the keys for you. This can be easier to use and recover through an account, but you depend on the provider’s security, solvency, access policies, and withdrawal availability.
- Noncustodial wallet: You control the keys. This avoids reliance on a custodian for ordinary access, but makes you responsible for protecting keys, backups, and recovery.
- Software wallet: An app or browser-based wallet. Convenient, but exposed to risks such as phishing, malware, device compromise, and unsafe transaction approvals.
- Hardware wallet: A dedicated device designed to isolate or protect keys. It can reduce some online exposure, but it is not foolproof; setup, backups, device loss, and phishing remain important risks.
- Seed phrase: A sequence of words that can restore access to a wallet. Anyone who obtains it may be able to control the assets, and losing it may make recovery impossible.
Never share a seed phrase or private key with anyone claiming to be support. Do not store a recovery phrase in an easily accessed screenshot, email, or cloud note. Be cautious when approving transactions or token allowances: signing can grant permissions or move assets, not just confirm a harmless message. The SEC’s custody bulletin explains custody choices and associated risks.
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- Price risk: Crypto prices can be highly volatile, and you can lose some or all of the amount invested.
- Platform and custody risk: An exchange or custodian can be hacked, fail, freeze accounts, restrict withdrawals, or become unavailable. Crypto in an account or wallet generally does not have the same protections as money in an FDIC-insured bank account or securities in a SIPC-protected brokerage account.
- Key and transaction risk: Losing a seed phrase, exposing a private key, signing a malicious transaction, or sending to the wrong address can cause permanent loss. A transfer that has been confirmed generally cannot be reversed by a bank or card network.
- Scams: Common tactics include guaranteed-return offers, fake celebrity endorsements, impersonated support staff, romance and “pig-butchering” investment scams, fake airdrops, pump-and-dump schemes, malicious wallet links, and paid recovery services. No legitimate support representative needs your seed phrase or private key.
- Code and network risk: Smart contracts can contain bugs or exploitable logic. Networks may experience congestion, reorganizations, governance disputes, validator or miner concentration, or failures in bridges that connect systems.
- Privacy risk: Public transaction records may be analyzed and linked to identities. Pseudonymous does not mean confidential.
- Regulatory risk: Legal requirements depend on the asset, service, activity, and jurisdiction. Do not assume a token’s marketing label settles its legal status.
- Energy and environmental impact: Proof-of-work requires computational work and electricity. Proof-of-stake uses a different security model and generally has lower direct energy requirements, but energy claims for one network should not be applied to all crypto.
U.S. federal tax basics
For U.S. federal tax purposes, digital assets are generally treated as property, not currency. Selling an asset, exchanging it for another crypto asset, or otherwise disposing of it can create a reportable tax event. Receiving crypto for services or as payment, and receiving some mining, staking, or other rewards, may create income. A transfer between wallets controlled by the same person may not be a taxable sale, but records are still useful. The result can depend on cost basis, holding period, transaction type, and individual circumstances. See the IRS digital-assets guidance and its transaction FAQs. This is general U.S. federal information, not individualized tax advice; other countries have different rules.
How to decide whether you need crypto
You do not need to buy cryptocurrency to understand the technology. If you are considering it, first ask:
- What specific purpose would the asset serve for you: payment, network access, experimentation, or speculation?
- Can you explain how the asset works, who controls its issuance or governance, and what rights it actually provides?
- Can you afford to lose the full amount without affecting essential expenses?
- Have you considered liquidity, fees, custody, withdrawal limits, and recovery if you lose account or wallet access?
- Do you understand the security and tax-recordkeeping responsibilities?
- Is the product and activity legally available where you live?
If the purpose is unclear, the promised return sounds guaranteed, or the person promoting it pressures you to act quickly, do not send money or connect a wallet. An exchange, hardware wallet, or tax tool is not a prerequisite for learning about cryptocurrency.
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