The language of digital money

Cryptocurrency: Any digital money that is created, controlled and transferred using computer encryption. Most popular cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ethereum, are not issued or backed by a central government, though some governments have tinkered with creating digital currencies of their own.

Bitcoin: The original cryptocurrency, created in 2009. The currency traded for a few hundred dollars per coin for most of the past few years but has seen its price skyrocket in 2017.

Blockchain: A technology tool that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and that is thought to have numerous applications outside of cryptocurrency, such as logging stock and real estate transactions. The blockchain is a "distributed ledger" — that is, a transaction record that is not managed by a central government or bank but run publicly online.

ICO: An initial coin offering, or the sale of a new cryptocurrency to investors. Sometimes these offerings are structured as sales of coins that can later be used to purchase goods or services from the company issuing the coins.

encryption cryptage / to issue émettre / to back soutenir / though bien que / to tinker with s'essayer à / of one's own à soi, propre / original d’origine, premier / to trade for se négocier à / to skyrocket grimper en flèche / to underpin être à la base de / outside of en dehors de / such as tel(les) que / to log enregistrer / real estate immobilier / that is à savoir, c'est-à-dire, en d'autres termes / record ici, registre / offering ici, levée de fonds / to structure organiser / to purchase acheter / goods biens.