Cryptocurrency is a digital payment system that doesn't rely on banks to verify transactions. ... When you transfer cryptocurrency funds, the transactions are recorded in a public ledger. You store your cryptocurrency in a digital wallet. Cryptocurrency got its name because it uses encryption to verify transactions.
Cryptocurrencies are usually built using blockchain technology. Blockchain describes the way transactions are recorded into "blocks" and time stamped. It's a fairly complex, technical process, but the result is a digital ledger of cryptocurrency transactions that's hard for hackers to tamper with.