— Ivelisse Porroa-Garcia is now director of government affairs at Ferox Strategies. She previously was policy director for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Every cryptocurrency holder has a private key that authenticates their identity and allows them to exchange units. Users can make up their own private keys, which are formatted as whole numbers up to 78 digits long, or use a random number generator to create one.

Although few cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin are widely accepted for merchant payments, increasingly active exchanges allow holders to exchange them for Bitcoin or fiat currencies — providing critical liquidity and flexibility. Since the late 2010s, big business and institutional investors have closely watched what they call the “crypto space” too.
Many cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology, which is a distributed ledger enforced by a distributed network of computers. Cryptocurrencies are distinguished from fiat currencies like the United States dollar or the British pound because any central authority does not issue them, making them potentially impervious to government intervention or manipulation.