“Cryptocurrency is primarily a private currency, which unlike ordinary fiat money isn’t controlled by the state,” says Svein Ølnes, a senior researcher at Vestlandsforsking, the Western Norway Research Institute.
Fiat money is traditional currency made by privately owned banks, but subject to control by the state. ‘Fiat’ means ‘let it happen’ in Latin.
Ølnes explains that the US dollar had a fixed value in gold until 1971….
