Cryptocurrencies can be sent by exchanges to the user's personal cryptocurrency wallet, and some can convert digital currency balances into anonymous prepaid cards (Visa or MasterCard) that can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs worldwide. Meanwhile, other cryptocurrencies are backed by real goods like gold.
Cryptocurrency creators are often independent of the cryptocurrency exchange that facilitates the trading of the currency. In one type of system, there are Digital Currency Providers (DCP), which are companies that hold and manage their clients' accounts, but generally do not issue digital currency directly to those clients. Clients buy or sell cryptocurrencies from cryptocurrency exchanges, which convert the digital currency to or from the client's Digital Currency Provider account. Some exchanges are affiliated companies, but many are legally independent companies. The category of funds held in their accounts can be in real or virtual currency.
Cryptocurrency exchanges can be a physical business or an online business. As a real company, they exchange traditional payment methods and cryptocurrencies; as an online business, they exchange electronically transferred funds and cryptocurrencies.
