# Working with Currencies

Tilia supports transactions in two types of currencies: fiat currency and virtual tokens.

**Fiat currency** is a form of legal tender whose value is backed by the government that issued it. The U.S. dollar is an example of fiat currency.
**Virtual tokens** are a type of digital currency used and accepted among the members of a specific virtual community.

Payments and payouts represent discrete currency exchanges. The value of these exchanges is determined by the combination of:

1. a `currency` field indicating the type of currency, which may be either a fiat currency (in ISO 4217 format) or virtual tokens
2. an `amount` field, expressed in the smallest denomination of the specified currency. For example, when the currency is USD, the amount is provided in cents.


Currency amounts can be set as low as `1`.

Tilia will work with you to configure your environment to support your specific currency requirements.

## Specifying decimal-based currency amounts

The example below represents $5.00 USD (500 cents):


```
  "amount": 500,
  "currency": "USD"
```

The example below represents an amount of $0.50 USD (50 cents):


```
  "amount": 50,
  "currency_code": "USD"
```

## Specifying zero-decimal currency amounts

Currencies such as the Japanese Yen are known as zero-decimal currencies. That is, the smallest unit of currency is ¥1 (1 JPY). The example below represents an amount of ¥5:


```
  "amount": 5,
  "currency_code": "JPY"
```