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TERRA ECONOMICUS

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  • 2019
  • No 4
  • Digitalization and monetary order: problems and prospects of cryptocurrency market regulation

DIGITALIZATION AND MONETARY ORDER: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET REGULATION

TERRA ECONOMICUS, , Vol. 17 (no. 4),

Since Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention of Bitcoin in 2008, as a reaction to the global financial crisis, discussions about the theoretical and applied value of the innovative decentralized and private money – «cryptocurrencies» – have come a long way. The breakthrough blockchain technology and the prospects for its application attract more and more attention of specialists and the general public, associated with the formation of fundamentally new outlines of a globally integrated and high-tech digital economic system. At the same time, the idea of Bitcoin itself is more likely to cause cautious reactions and fears, primarily from governments and regulatory authorities, which see the spread of cryptographic currencies as a challenge to traditional monetary institutions, including the state monopoly on money. The authors of the article reflect on the problems of cryptocurrency market regulation in the context of this public discourse, which is taking place against the background of growing discontent with respect to the traditional institutions of the monetary and financial system. The official positions of the financial authorities on the development of the «cryptocurrency industry» are discussed. The European – namely, German – experience of regulation of the sphere of cryptocurrency circulation is presented. It is noted that Russian experience differs from that of a number of foreign countries, in which certain approaches to civil law interpretation and the development of adapted norms and rules for interacting with cryptocurrencies have already been formed. Russia still lacks any legal definition as well as clear legislative regulation of cryptocurrencies. The cautious position of Russian regulators is determined by the need for a more thorough study of the economic and legal nature of private digital means of payment in order to prevent risks of financial losses for consumers and eliminate possible threats to the stability of the financial and economic system as a whole. An appeal to the late legacy of Friedrich August von Hayek and his ideas regarding the denationalization of monetary systems will help to clarify the potential dynamics of this situation.
Citation: Dörr, J., Kowalski, O., Nevskiy, S. I. (2019). Digitalization and monetary order: problems and prospects of cryptocurrency market regulation. Terra Economicus, 17(4), 6–22. DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2019-17-4-6-22


Keywords: digitalization; decentralization; monetary order; state monopoly on money; Friedrich August von Hayek; legislative regulation of the cryptocurrency market

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Publisher: Southern Federal University
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606