THE PLACE OF VIRTUAL ASSETS IN THE STRUCTURE OF DIGITAL FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The article considers a fundamentally new technological environment based on digital technologies, known as “cryptocurrency”, which has gained wide popularity and distribution, in particular, in the financial sphere. The variety of terms and general definitions in the modern world of digital financial technologies can confuse not only the vast majority of its potential consumers but even those who have already had a relationship with their type of service or are the owner of some type of it. The purpose of the article is to conduct a study aimed at trying to structure the elements of digital technologies, which have a widespread common name “cryptocurrency”, which are more reflected in the financial sector of the economy, relative to each other, based on their characteristic features/ During the study we refer to the whole variety as Digital Financial Technology (DFT). But to find a place in such a structure for the new legal definition of “virtual assets”, which appeared in the Ukrainian legal field thanks to the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Virtual Assets”. When conducting the research, the following were used: general scientific research methods – deduction and induction, synthesis and analysis, scientific abstraction, systematic approach; specially – legal methods of knowledge – formally legal; legal forecasting, retrospective and comparative legal method; methodological substantiation of the essence, nature and structure of the terminology, which is the object of research. According to the results of the research, the structure of the entire known variety of elements of digital technologies was formed. In summary, the results of the study are presented graphically in Figure 1. The place in such a formed structure, the new national legal definition of “virtual assets” (clause 1, clause 1, article 1 of Law 2074), which appeared in the Ukrainian legal field, thanks to the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Virtual Assets”, according to the author, based on the assigned functionality and characteristics inherent in them, there is a structural field in Figure 1 “cryptocurrency”, which is included in the circle of “virtual currencies”, and that in turn in the circle “digital currencies”.