The Role of Money, Cryptocurrency and Gold in the Modern Monetary Policy

Abstract

The subject of the researchis the modern understanding of money and its interaction with cryptocurrencies and gold as an important aspect of the monetary policy.The purposes of the researchwere to define the concepts of commercial physical money and symbolic credit money and characterize the modern credit money while treating cryptocurrencies as specific tokens suitable for money transfers and other operations. The paper gives assessment of the blockchain technology as a promising IT product ft for practical use in many sectors of the economy. The role of gold in the modern economy is analyzed. The specific features of the new method of attracting investment — the initial coin offering (ICO) — are considered. It is noted that a new sector has emerged in the modern economy and its financial sphere with elements of self-organization based on IT products. The paper emphasizes the need for legal support of the issue and circulation of cryptocurrencies. It is asserted that nowadays gold has completely lost its monetary function and the reasons for its accumulation by the states are explained. The prospects for the coexistence of modern money and cryptocurrencies are evaluated.It is concludedthat the money function of gold ceased in the twentieth century, which is an undisputable fact. The world of physical money is in the past. The current world gold market exists only thanks to the Washington Gold Agreement of 1999 renewable every five years. The world economy is still facing a difficult period of adjusting cryptocurrencies to being used as new tools in the world of credit money and securities.