Bitcoin Forum

We feel that the word "Coin" is taking on a new meaning due to the cryptocurrency meme. As such, we propose a backronym that better captures the current meaning of the word coin in this context.

COIN = COmmon INformation.

We feel that this reflects the common information (or shared/common knowledge) aspect of blockchain technology. I.e. the ownership/control of each token on a blockchain is common information.

A cursory glance at the various definitions of the words "Common" and "Information" yield a powerful support of this backronym:

Common: "belonging to or shared by two or more people or groups", "known to the community", "pertaining or belonging equally to an entire community, nation, or culture"...

Information: "derived knowledge", "communication or reception of knowledge", "knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction"...

Coin Etymology:


Source: http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=coin


Please discuss.

another person trying to 'coin' a new phrase

I think i'll just stick with the old meaning.


Haha well done.

Stop trying to be an linguistic or whatever are you trying to do...

"COIN" - Cryptographic Offgrid Interchange Notes. It's the currency of the offgrid digital nomads.

The new definition is not bad but for the definition of common maybe we will now introduce the word coin into it to make it a coin "belonging to or shared by two or more people or groups", "known to the community", "pertaining or belonging equally to an entire community, nation, or culture"...

Makes me wonder where the whole 'Coin' thing came from with Cryptocurrencies.  Is it from BitCOIN or is there some other kind of history behind?  I always assumed this was because all these Cryptocurrencies have mostly been represented as coins in their logo's.  This includes the currently known form of Bitcoin logo.

But, I would not introduce this new meaning for Coin.  Particularly because it feels like Common Information has zero relation to what we mean when we talk about two Cryptocurrencies and say Coins.  We simply call Cryptocurrencies that way.  If there was a definition particularly for Cryptocurrencies, I think it can be so much more simplified or we can find a much more related way of defining it.

COIN could also mean "common investment" or "community investment". Does it really matter, if it means anything in particular?
Imagine if Satoshi Nakamoto gave Bitcoin another name, like Bitbanknote or Bitdollar. That would suck. ;D Bitcoin is instantly recognizable and easy to remember. It's like the perfect name for a brand or company.
I assume that Satoshi used the word "coin" in Bitcoin to remind us about the gold and silver coins from the gold standard era, when the central banks didn't have money printing machines and the money supply was controlled by the gold and silver supply, not by corrupted governments and central bankers.

Let's not make a misconception of it all, coin is always referred to a digital unit of an account or a particular currency and it is being written in small letters, but when you apply a capital letter althrough the alphabets, it could be termed to anything as letters in blocks where usually applied to stand for abbreviation on words unfamiliar or too long to pronounce, in this case you can make a coinage with spelling it when you write it in capital letters to give a different interpretation, but in coin is any cryptocurrency unit of account and it's been written in small letters.

I really just realized about the meaning of this coin. Without realizing it, the word coin already has a very complex meaning in various aspects. Because when I was at school, I only knew that the word coin was metal money, and all of that was true.
Source: https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uang_metal

But now the word coin is also used in the crypto world. Even though crypto doesn't have a physical form, why can crypto be called a coin? So it seems that it is true, the meaning or meaning of this coin has become widespread. Not only is it used for money that has a physical form, but the word coin can also be used for digital money or digital assets such as crypto.

Nah, that's not the one.. Here is the correct full form of a COIN -

C - Currency
O - Of
I - Illusionary
N - Non-existence

Because most of the COIN(S) disappear into thin air after rugging you out. :)

The world is already suffering from alot of confusions already, please do not add to it, adopting "common information" to be shortened as "coin" will simply add to the confusion the world is face d with right now, we are the creators of our own problems somehow, remember?.

Just imagine reading a book, or article,(which ever), and the author kept using the word "coin", which you as the reader assumed to mean "coin", like the real coin - and for several times, you are confused, and even think it's a typo, because you can't get yourself to understand what a coin has to do with what you are reading.. Only to later on discover that the word "coin" in that book or article meant "common information"?

Just say "common information", for common information, and allow "coin" to mean coin, don't create confusion for yourself and your listeners/readers.

The word "Coin" is quite appropriate as the meaning used is the same (as we all know, both the word "coin" and the word "coin" are both used for the same meaning) and in other words, coin is created by using the common information of a user. The meanings of the words are a lot different, each person has different meanings. The common meaning is the same, and it is difficult to describe how the terms used are both used in different contexts.

I think I will stay with its common meaning... a flat, typically round piece of metal with an official stamp, used as money (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/coin).  Changing its meaning will only end in confusion.  Like today, if someone speaks about coins, I can easily think of physical and digital form and think that the person is talking about money.  While @OP completely change the meaning and representation of Coin which I think is not needed in the cryptocurrency industry.


A coin can be physical, actually, if I am not mistaken, it is its original form.  ;D.

You're responsible  for digging  out this topic  and I couldn't  stop  laughing  on how people just want to get things complicated  for persons like myself  who are still trying  to keep grid of the previous  definitions  we know and all of a sudden  another person as been seriously  seeking  for a new to come up with new definitions.

It's been long op left the forum and I guess he went to get more advanced definitions.

Reinventing the word etymology basing on new circumstances doesn't in fact make a new etymology. You can play with words the way you wish but it is just a brain exercise, nothing else. If you will not make a large and costly advertising campaign to make some think that new reading of a common word can be interesting no one will do so by themselves. If everyone names bitcoin a coin, well, now we know that coins can be digital, and that's all. We don't start considering this word as abbreviation.

Well, you are right, this is pointing to the same direction my commented pointed..
And to add, sometimes, that is in rare cases, new words sometimes happen on their own in such a way advertising it is even required, we can take the word "HODL" as a case study, the member who came about that phrase, didnt/wasn't expecting a new phrase to be forms, it was an honest mistake he made , and from that mistake, we have the phrase "HODL“ today which means holding on to dear life, I believe op was trying to come up with something similar...

And by the way, I see no importance of still commenting on this thread, this thread was created in 2014 and op was last active in 2015, that's a long time ago.

I didn't look at the date of the first post. Well, at least now we know that for about 9 years no one started thinking that a coin is an abbreviation or something like that. 9 year experiment proved it empirically. ;D

As for new words, then right, some become unexpectedly popular and then stay with us or disappear in several years. I think most times it is just an occasion. And IMO more chance for accidental word than for specially invented.

We will keep getting diffeerent meaning and interpretation on this same word, just as I've earlier said, anything written in block letters is most likely to be an abbreviation in which each single alphabet has its own means for what it stands for, in cryptocurrency, we don't often refer to a digital currency of any kind with the capital letters of "COIN" rather it's in small letters "coin" but the first letter which is "C" may be written in capital letters since it's the beginning of the word, it is also very important to always clarify the meaning of where the word coin is being applicable irrespective of the context.

I don't think we need to redefine the word "coin" just because of a cryptocurrency meme, and it seems a bit forced, don't you think? The original definition still applies perfectly fine.

Coin has different meaning. Coin can origin or brought out. As franky1 put it. Op is trying to coin it from crypto which is also contradicting it original meaning. In cryptocurrency "coin" means money, currency which can be used to buy and sell goods and services on online and it is not what OP put it as "Common Information". I don't even know where that is coming from. In crypto coin always maintain it original meaning as currency.
Op used the content in the context wrongly. He would have given the dichotomy of it all before telling us the morphology.

If we talk about different alphabets, I guess you'll be very surprised to know that for instance in Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian it is called мoнeтa, what is translated as coin. So people use the same word in a same sense, but in totally different spelling. So you'll hardly find a way of implementing the same abbreviation for every alphabet which will be clear for everyone. Let's not invent a bicycle again and again. We already have a word which mostly everyone understands and I don't think people will be thankful for complicating of their lives. ;D

The other version of backronym can be "commercial information", that's exactly the real value in the era of digital money universe. Now banks have become not money holders, but commercial information keepers, so money (especially digital-fiat) are more similar to "identification documents" rather than freedom granting digits.

Coins will always be just that, coins haha. Digital Currency is the term you are looking for here. Coins will most commonly always be referred to units of exchange whether they be gold, silver, copper, or some mix of alloys we find here today. The coins you're getting these definitions from refer to the minting and assayers who physically stamped chunks of gold and silver. Back in those days oftentimes all coins looked very different, even though they had the same design. Thats why you see the 'bits or pieces' in that definition. Also may reference the pieces of eight, AKA COBS. I see what you mean though, bitcoin and crypto do bring a new meaning to the word "coin" per say...