Digital currency bitcoin is a digital currency but also a type of virtual currency. Bitcoin and its alternatives are based on cryptographic algorithms, so these kinds of virtual currencies are also called cryptocurrencies. Most of the traditional money supply is bank money held on computers. This is also considered digital currency. One could argue that our increasingly cashless society means that all currencies are becoming digital, but they are not presented to us as such. Currency can be exchanged electronically using debit cards and credit cards using electronic funds transfer at point of sale. A number of electronic money systems use contactless
Private currency permit the transfer of points or miles. Some startups, such as the Canadian website Points.com, have sought to make loyalty "points" more currency-like by creating an exchange where points from one loyalty program can be traded for points in other such programs. A cryptocurrency is a form of digital or virtual currency where cryptography secures the transactions and controls the creation of additional units of the currency. A cryptocurrency wallet can be used to store the public and private keys which can be used to receive or spend the cryptocurrency. The cryptographic systems used allow for decentralisation; a decentralised cryptocurrency