About Crypto-currencies and Your Gravatar Profile

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What is crypto-currency?

Crypto-currency is a new form of digital currency, the most popular being Bitcoin. A currency is held in what is referred to as a digital wallet and identified by the wallet address.

They can be used to purchase some goods and services (including at WordPress.com), but also to "tip" others online - sending a few digital coins is a fun way to thank someone for a job well done, or simply to show that you appreciated a good joke or astute comment.

Read more about crypto-currency on Wikipedia.

How are crypto-currencies exchanged and managed?

Crypto-currencies are held in a "digital wallet," apps or online accounts that store your currency and allow you to send and receive it. Each wallet contains a set of unique addresses, a random string of characters like D8gGzLc8thi5isaxHBtRLyxaQiij6KsyF1 . You can obtain your crypto-currency address from the wallet software or service you use (e.g., Coinbase or DogeVault).

These addresses are needed to send and receive crypto-currency. If you want to send currency to or "tip" another person, you'll need their address. Anyone who'd like to send you currency will need your address.

Why share your crypto-currency address on Gravatar?

Since they are long strings of random characters, crypto-currency addresses are not as friendly to share as an e-mail address or username. On Gravatar, you can associate your address with your account, making it simple for people to see what currencies you use and find the associated addresses.

Gravatar supports the top three crypto-currencies, Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin.