‘Crypto’ comes from the word cryptography, the security process used to protect transactions that send the lines of code out for purchases. Cryptography also controls the creation of new ‘coins’, the term used to describe specific amounts of code. Most cryptocurrencies begin with a market cap in mind, which means that their production will decrease over time thus, ideally, making any particular coin more valuable in the future.

Bitcoins are completely virtual coins designed to be ‘self-contained’ for their value, with no need for banks to move and store the money.