All Things Cryptic
By Henry Petroski
Whether one is designing a virtual currency or creating a word puzzle, finding a secure way to disguise information is a technological and mental challenge.
This Article From Issue
November-December 2021
Volume 109, Number 6
Page 342
A virtual currency, or cryptocurrency, is a decentralized means of exchange that is independent of government regulation and monetary policy. The most familiar example is Bitcoin. Unlike an account holding a fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar or the Japanese yen, a Bitcoin account cannot be frozen or seized by an issuing government. However, because Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be traded like stocks, they do come with a certain amount of risk and volatility. But accounts holding them are considered essentially unhackable, because transfers among them are protected by extremely sophisticated software employing secure validation protocols. (See “Bitcoins Maybe; Blockchains Likely,” November–December 2017.)
Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
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