Cryptographers Furious That "Crypto" Now Means Something Else

Is that necessarily a bad thing?

Oh That Crypto

Not everybody was thrilled when the Staples Center in Los Angeles was renamed the "Crypto.com Arena."

And that's especially true for a group of people who have had a deep connection with the term "crypto" for eons — cryptographers.

"'Crypto' for decades has been used as shorthand and as a prefix for things related to cryptography," Amie Stepanovich, executive director of Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado Law School, told The Guardian. "In fact, in the term cryptocurrency, the prefix crypto refers back to cryptography."

Olden Days

Confusing the two concepts could end in disaster, especially in regards to "legislators and regulators who are not always subject matter experts in these areas, even if they are charged with overseeing them," Stepanovich told the paper.

The movement has even spawned cryptographers wearing T-shirts that say "Crypto: it means 'cryptography.'"

Have cryptographers already lost the fight, as Vice argued in a recent piece? Given the rising momentum of cryptocurrencies, it's starting to look that way.

But whether the confusion has any negative consequences beyond bruised egos is unclear.

After all, alongside the rise of cryptocurrencies, cryptography is also more important than ever today. From ensuring the safety of personal data to protecting trade secrets and the advent of quantum computing, cryptographers are more in demand than they've ever been.

READ MORE: Cryptographers are not happy with how you’re using the word ‘crypto’ [The Guardian]

More on crypto: The Staples Center Will Be Renamed the "Crypto.com Arena" Because We Are Condemned to Eternal Damnation