How to use cryptocurrency AP Style rules: If you have written much about tech in the last couple of years, you know that the vocabulary moves fast, and the lingo even faster. For those of us old enough to have owned a print copy of the AP Stylebook (aka the Associated Press Stylebook — which incidentally does not approve of “aka” in most cases, whether within or without parenthesis) quick moving tech lingo required a bit of guesswork and knowing when to blow the AP off. In particular, I spent years writing it Internet when everyone else was not capitalizing internet because AP Style told me to. Updates to AP Style are faster now, but let’s put all of the crypto lingo AP Style rules in one place.
Crypto Currency or Cryptocurrency AP Style
Should I write crypto currency or cryptocurrency according to AP Style, and while we’re at it, what about writing CryptoCurrency?
When writing AP style use cryptocurrency, not crypto currency, or CryptoCurrency. Use all the normal capitalization, plural, and possessive rules of the standard word “currency,” so: Cryptocurrency at the beginning of a sentence, cryptocurrencies as plural, and cryptocurrency’s as possessive as in cryptocurrency’s flaws.
Generally speaking, according to AP Style crypto should be avoided in formal writing and articles, however it is acceptable in headlines so long as the writer is not using crypto interchangeably with a specific crypto, such as Bitcoin.
How To Write Bitcoin AP Styles (and while we’re here, how to write Ethereum AP Style, and other specific cryptos.)
Okay ready? Dig in for this one.
In previous rules according to AP Style Bitcoin should be capitalized when referring to Bitcoin as a system, however bitcoin should not be capitalized when referring to use as payment, or currency derived from the Bitcoin network. This is essentially the rules given to traditional currency which are that only proper nouns are capitalized and that the specific type of currency is not a proper noun, so:
- U.S. dollars
- Canadian dollars
- British pound
- The euro
This Associate Press Stylebook rule is less followed than others, but if the Washington Post calls and they want an article, that’s the AP Style rule. Part of the reason this Bitcoin rule exists is because Bitcoin itself (or at least its official glossary) says the same thing. So, the government is cracking down on Bitcoin, but then, “Years ago someone used bitcoin to buy a pizza.”
Other cryptocurrencies are considered proper nouns, which name their respective currencies. The basic AP rule now is that while crypto, cryptocurrency, and blockchain are all non-proper nouns and no capitalization, Ethereum, Tether, Dogecoin, and Whatevercoin are all proper nouns and should be capitalized even when used as currency. Ethereum Classic is also a proper name, so the C gets capitalized even if it doesn’t follow the rules above.
What About Altcoins AP Style?
Altcoin, or altcoins refer to all blockchain based cryptocurrency that are not Bitcoin. Yes, even Ethereum, which is the biggest altcoin.
Writing About the Blockchain AP Style
So, if you want to know, “What is the AP Style rule for blockchain?” then you should know that blockchain is a generic concept, like network, or raiding party. As such you do not capitalize blockchain unless it is at the beginning of the sentence. At the beginning of a sentence blockchain is capitalized, but the B only.
Then, just to wrap up, it is blockchain, not block chain. Then all the usual rules apply, blockchains, blockchain’s, blockchains’ and so on.
Author
Brian Nelson is a professional freelance writer specializing in technology writing and financial writing. He writes for numerous publications and websites including his up-and-coming professional personal finance website Finance Gourmet.