A Taxonomy of Digital Assets

Taxonomies are a tool used for visually understanding complex topics through hierarchical and categorical relationship-mapping based on key defining characteristics. As digital and financial services continue to expand, taxonomies are a valuable resource for understanding the nomenclature and visualizing how emerging terminology fits within a given ecosystem. In biology, animal taxonomy structures the hierarchy from most general, the animal’s domain, to most specific, its species. In this digital asset taxonomy, a similar structure has been used, classifying the assets most generally as either a digital or a virtual currency and then organizing them down to specific digital asset examples.