Currencies that are neither issued nor regulated by national banks of individual countries and are not recognized as official means of payment. The latter might change with cryptocurrencies that are officially accepted (e.g., Bitcoin in El Salvador) or launched by official institutions, in particular, by central banks (CBDC). Among the examples for alternative or complementary currencies are Ethereum Coins, Ripple Coins and Bitcoins, but also currencies that are present in regional communities. At least many of the electronic alternative currencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Diem, Ether) are expected to face increasing regulation.
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