Cryptocurrency is not only shaking up the finance system, it is changing the way society is thinking. The Oxford Dictionary Online, the world’s arbiter of what is and is not English has recently accepted cryptocurrency as a word.

The addition of cryptocurrency comes after last August’s addition of Bitcoin to the internet publication, showing increasing acceptance of all things connected with the world of digital currency and demonstrating their enhanced importance for society in general. While the Oxford Dictionary Online is not the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a more immediate reflection of the changing nature of society, as reflected in language.

The dictionary caused a sensation last year when it added ‘selfie’ to its growing lists of recently adopted words from the internet community. While the addition of cryptocurrency has largely gone under the radar, it is possible this reflects a greater acceptance within the broader community of cryptocurrency both as a word and as a concept. If this is so, this is an additional reason for the cryptocurrency community to celebrate.

Cryptocurrency evangelists will also be pleased to note that the examples of sentences using cryptocurrency provided by the dictionary are also largely positive, emphasising what the community sees as the advantages of cryptocurrencies.

“Decentralized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin now provide an outlet for personal wealth that is beyond restriction and confiscation,” quotes the dictionary.