I need a verb that expresses the concept of transforming a raw material into currency, as in this sentence "The bitcoin manufacturing process currenciates digital information."

New coinages are fine if they make sense and are less clumsy than the one I used above, but an existing term would be preferred. I've considered the word mint but that seems to relate more to the final product than the raw material -- in other words, you mint coins (the finished product), you don't mint gold (the raw material).

  • 7
    Monetize is the term used in the trade. – John Lawler Mar 26 '14 at 2:55
  • Monetize is pretty good (see below) but I often hear the term used to mean making money from something rather than out of something. Is there any term that doesn't have this ambiguity? – Chris Sunami Mar 26 '14 at 3:29
  • Just rephrase your sentence then - "The bitcoin manufacturing process has created a currency out of digital information." I fail to see the difference between "from" and "out of" in this context though. – mattacular Mar 26 '14 at 3:54
  • 1
    @ChrisSunami "making money from something" is a metaphorical use of the word. See the actual meaning in a dictionary. thefreedictionary.com/monetize – Kris Mar 26 '14 at 6:28
  • 1
    I saw a ruling yesterday. For purposes of the IRS, Bitcoins are not currency, but property. The reasoning: bitcoins are not legal tender in any jurisdiction. – GEdgar Mar 26 '14 at 13:11

Monetize to coin into money; also : to establish as legal tender

  • Thanks, I was sure there must be a term already in use. I have upvoted your answer, but I'm going to wait a little longer to see if there are any other suggestions before marking this as accepted. – Chris Sunami Mar 26 '14 at 2:59
  • Monetize is really the exact word you're looking for. – mattacular Mar 26 '14 at 3:30
  • Seems like a good choice! Although I hear monetize in a dot.com, web context really frequently, it seems to have originated in the late 1800s. The definition given at investopedia for example says "to convert an asset into money". Google's definition is "convert into...currency". Methinks a weak but potential synonym would be to coin, but usually only used abstractly (to coin it) or for the physical process, as with mint. – wwkudu Mar 26 '14 at 4:06
  • A more relevant definition could be: "3. To convert from securities into currency that can be used to purchase goods and services." thefreedictionary.com/monetize – Kris Mar 26 '14 at 6:29
  • Monetize is the correct word. – moonstar Mar 26 '14 at 9:02

In addition to monetizing, which is excellent and correct, I would suggest some alternatives. If you wish to carry forward the metaphor inherent to Bitcoin (that it is a digital coin made of bits) you could go with the following:

The act of making coins from metal is coining or minting

Early coins were either cast or struck. Casting was done by pouring molten metal into molds.

Other coins were struck with coin dies made by professional engravers. A planchet or flan (a coin blank) was placed on to the coin die for the front of the coin, and a hammer with the rear die was used to strike the planchet to create a coin with separate images on both sides.

Over time, advances in technology improved these techniques. Screw presses, mills, steam pressers, and eventually electric roll presses have been employed.


The best example I think would be "monetize", but as it's already been suggested I'll offer up a few lessers.

  1. Appreciate.

While it doesn't specifically state you are making something into a currency it can be used to express the addition of value which is what the transformation process would be doing.

  1. Mint.

The process of creating currency is called minting, and the places that do it are mints. While minting is typically used to refer to creation of currency from scratch I see no reason why it couldn't be used to refer to transformation into currency, while the word mint does suggest a degree of freshness I suppose the rebirthing could fulfill that need.

Your Answer

