5 ms·

Title needs editing; crypto != cryptocurrency.

by denton-scratch 5y ago

Tenoke 5y ago
That's the original title and I'd wager most people read it correctly.
- throwdecro 5y ago
  > I'd wager most people read it correctly. That's unlikely. Before cryptocurrencies, "crypto" generally meant cryptography. The term "crypto" now refers to cryptocurrencies almost 100% of the time.
  - jeroenhd 5y ago
    I didn't: "CipherTrace" definitely made me think this was cryptography related. Mastercard has some pretty large investments into cybersecurity because of their position on the global money market, so I thought this company would be about trying to break encryption or something similar. I consider crypto to only refer to cryptocurrency in an informal, non-technical context, or in the middle of a paragraph talking about cryptocurrencies. On HN I kind of expect crypto to refer to cryptography with the amount of programming and computer science posts that get discussed here
- Joeboy 5y ago
  I noted the ambiguity but initially assumed cryptography, based on the name "CipherTrace".
- rewtraw 5y ago
  this is HN where its a race to be as pedantic as possible
  - MorePedanticer 5y ago
    it's*
    - legrande 5y ago
      *You're
rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
Yeah, crypto = hidden. In this context, crypto = cryptocurrency, because MasterCard is a major fintech company. The context is obvious. Don't die on the crypto != cryptocurrency hill. Its not worth it. Language is fluid and words represent concepts that change over time. We use contextual information to solidify the concepts. There is nothing special about cryptography that owns the word. Cryptozoology and Cryptosporidium are also valid candidates for using the short form.
- stouset 5y ago
  The issue is that cryptography and cryptocurrency overlap relevancy in the fintech space. Without specifying which, it’s ambiguous. I say this as an engineer on the security team of a major fintech company who also has a cryptocurrency arm. It’s fine to call cryptocurrencies “crypto”. It’s less fine to be unnecessarily ambiguous and create confusion when either might be relevant. If not for this discussion, I had assumed the article would be about them acquiring an HSM vendor or someone else in the cryptography space. Admittedly this is the original title. But it’s an ambiguous and confusing title.
  - 0des 5y ago
    Unless you also say "cellular telephone" I wouldn't lean into this one too hard, it's not worth it.
  - vmception 5y ago
    They are tracing cryptographic hashes that represent transactions in cryptocurrencies, as thats how cryptocurrencies work. Its the proper use of the word in one, two or even three contexts. If you're not interested in it, you'll find out from the subtitle or the first paragraph and move on.
- echelon 5y ago
  I totally misread this and rolled my eyes about MasterCard getting into the cryptocurrency business. It's to the point where we need to start labeling cryptography as such. Crypto now means cryptocurrency because the crypto folks like to shorten it in every conversation.
vmoore 5y ago
I've grown used to thinking crypto = cryptocurrency. That's the nature of language. A language (and its people) gets to vote for the use of a word based on the heuristic of popularity. It's something that has been going on for some time now.

Title needs editing; crypto != cryptocurrency.

Tenoke 5y ago

That's the original title and I'd wager most people read it correctly.

throwdecro 5y ago
> I'd wager most people read it correctly. That's unlikely. Before cryptocurrencies, "crypto" generally meant cryptography. The term "crypto" now refers to cryptocurrencies almost 100% of the time.
- jeroenhd 5y ago
  I didn't: "CipherTrace" definitely made me think this was cryptography related. Mastercard has some pretty large investments into cybersecurity because of their position on the global money market, so I thought this company would be about trying to break encryption or something similar. I consider crypto to only refer to cryptocurrency in an informal, non-technical context, or in the middle of a paragraph talking about cryptocurrencies. On HN I kind of expect crypto to refer to cryptography with the amount of programming and computer science posts that get discussed here
Joeboy 5y ago
I noted the ambiguity but initially assumed cryptography, based on the name "CipherTrace".
rewtraw 5y ago
this is HN where its a race to be as pedantic as possible
- MorePedanticer 5y ago
  it's*
  - legrande 5y ago
    *You're

rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago

Yeah, crypto = hidden. In this context, crypto = cryptocurrency, because MasterCard is a major fintech company. The context is obvious. Don't die on the crypto != cryptocurrency hill. Its not worth it. Language is fluid and words represent concepts that change over time. We use contextual information to solidify the concepts. There is nothing special about cryptography that owns the word. Cryptozoology and Cryptosporidium are also valid candidates for using the short form.

stouset 5y ago
The issue is that cryptography and cryptocurrency overlap relevancy in the fintech space. Without specifying which, it’s ambiguous. I say this as an engineer on the security team of a major fintech company who also has a cryptocurrency arm. It’s fine to call cryptocurrencies “crypto”. It’s less fine to be unnecessarily ambiguous and create confusion when either might be relevant. If not for this discussion, I had assumed the article would be about them acquiring an HSM vendor or someone else in the cryptography space. Admittedly this is the original title. But it’s an ambiguous and confusing title.
- 0des 5y ago
  Unless you also say "cellular telephone" I wouldn't lean into this one too hard, it's not worth it.
- vmception 5y ago
  They are tracing cryptographic hashes that represent transactions in cryptocurrencies, as thats how cryptocurrencies work. Its the proper use of the word in one, two or even three contexts. If you're not interested in it, you'll find out from the subtitle or the first paragraph and move on.
echelon 5y ago
I totally misread this and rolled my eyes about MasterCard getting into the cryptocurrency business. It's to the point where we need to start labeling cryptography as such. Crypto now means cryptocurrency because the crypto folks like to shorten it in every conversation.

vmoore 5y ago

I've grown used to thinking crypto = cryptocurrency. That's the nature of language. A language (and its people) gets to vote for the use of a word based on the heuristic of popularity. It's something that has been going on for some time now.