Merriam-Webster, one of the US’s leading dictionaries, added “cryptocurrency,” “Blockchain” and “initial coin offering” to its entries, in a nod to their frequent use today.
“The sometimes perplexing domain of digital financial exchanges opens a window into a subject that requires an explanation for many of us,” the online dictionary said in its announcement Monday.
The new entries are “used frequently enough by some in order to be placed in a reference for all,” the dictionary said.
The company saw the crypto entries as “on the opposite end of the economic spectrum” as way of organizing and distributing money in developing economies, like microfinance and microcredit, both of which describe small loans made to impoverished individuals and communities or similar financial services.
The three words were among 850 new entries to the dictionary, which also included “dumpster fire,” “antifa” and “mansplain.”
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
