Legal definition of the cryptocurrency in Ukraine in international comparison

Abstract

Legal regulation of digital finance is at an initial stage. It has been proven that many countries are favorable to the full or partial recognition of cryptocurrency as a means of payment, among them: Spain—the official payment system; Germany—monetary unit and form of private money; USA—currency, form of money, Sweden—contractual means of payment; the object of money transfers in certain states, Canada—a means of calculation, etc. It has been established that in Ukraine, the considered conservative nature of legal regulation of financial relations is observed in the context of the implementation of digital financial technologies in view of the task of protecting both public interests and the interests of individuals. Conclusions have been made, first, the issue of legal evaluation of cryptocurrencies is still not finally resolved and their legal nature also remains debatable; second, cryptocurrencies being alternative settlement units poses a threat to the dominance of public currencies, as they enable competition between private financial agents and states; third, according to its essence, electronic money is a kind of electronic promissory note.