Types of Currency — Fiat, Crypto, Commodity & Digital Explained
Not all currency works the same way. This page breaks down the four main types and where each currency CurrencyFreaks supports fits in.
Fiat currency
Government-issued currency not backed by a physical commodity — the US dollar, euro, yen, and the 166 fiat currencies CurrencyFreaks tracks.
| ISO Code | Currency | Symbol | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD | US Dollar | $ | United States |
| EUR | Euro | € | Eurozone (20) |
| GBP | Pound Sterling | £ | United Kingdom |
| JPY | Japanese Yen | ¥ | Japan |
| CNY | Chinese Yuan | ¥ | China |
| INR | Indian Rupee | ₹ | India |
| CAD | Canadian Dollar | $ | Canada |
| AUD | Australian Dollar | $ | Australia |
| CHF | Swiss Franc | Fr | Switzerland |
| SGD | Singapore Dollar | $ | Singapore |
Cryptocurrency
Decentralized digital currency secured by cryptography — Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the 856 crypto assets available through the CurrencyFreaks API.
| Code | Currency | Launched | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | Bitcoin | 2009 | First and largest by market cap |
| ETH | Ether | 2015 | Native token of the Ethereum network |
| XRP | XRP | 2012 | Designed for cross-border payments |
| LTC | Litecoin | 2011 | Faster block time than Bitcoin |
| BCH | Bitcoin Cash | 2017 | Bitcoin fork with larger block size |
Commodity-backed currency
Currency whose value is tied to a physical asset — gold and silver, the 4 precious metals covered by CurrencyFreaks.
| ISO Code | Metal | Element | ISO classification |
|---|---|---|---|
| XAU | Gold | Au | ISO 4217 X-code (non-national currency) |
| XAG | Silver | Ag | ISO 4217 X-code (non-national currency) |
| XPT | Platinum | Pt | ISO 4217 X-code (non-national currency) |
| XPD | Palladium | Pd | ISO 4217 X-code (non-national currency) |
Digital / central bank currency
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a fourth category that sits between fiat and crypto — digital money issued and fully controlled by a central bank. Unlike cryptocurrencies, CBDCs are not decentralized; unlike physical fiat, they exist only in digital form. They carry the same legal-tender status as banknotes and are backed by the issuing government.
Several countries have already launched live CBDCs: China’s digital yuan (e-CNY) is in broad domestic use, the Bahamas operates the Sand Dollar, Jamaica has JAM-DEX, and Nigeria launched the eNaira. The European Central Bank is in an advanced preparation phase for a digital euro, and over 130 countries are at various stages of research, pilot, or rollout as of 2025.
The key distinction from cryptocurrency is control: a CBDC is a liability of the central bank, programmable by the state, and its supply is managed by monetary policy — not an open protocol. It shares an ISO currency code with the country’s existing fiat currency in most implementations (e-CNY uses CNY, for example), which means it does not create a new exchange rate to track.
CurrencyFreaks does not currently provide exchange rate data for CBDCs. Most issued CBDCs are pegged at parity with their national fiat currency and do not have an independent floating rate. If standalone CBDC rate feeds become available and widely adopted, CurrencyFreaks may add support in the future.
