From cryptocurrency to virtual assets: formation of Ukrainian legislation through the prism of chronological legal analysis

In recent years, cryptocurrencies have had a major impact on the global financial system. This has increased the requirements for state regulators to take legislative initiatives to establish rules for their regulation. The purpose of the study is to analyze the legislative process of establishing a legal framework in Ukraine during 2017-2023 to regulate cryptocurrencies, which is expressed in the legal definition of "virtual assets". The methodological basis of the study included a combination of philosophical, general scientific and special legal methods of scientific cognition. A series of draft laws on cryptocurrency regulation in Ukraine before the advent of the relevant Law of Ukraine 2074-IX "On Virtual Assets" contained a common mistake in an attempt to pay more attention to the taxation of something that did not have a clear legislative definition and classification. The initial version of the Law 2074-IX dated 15.03.2022 may not enter into force, as there is a need to bring it closer to the European MiCA Regulation. In a legal vacuum, before the entry into force of Law 2074-IX, cryptocurrencies are able to perform the function of exchange, having fragmented features of a monetary surrogate. This is acceptable at the legislative level in many developed countries and will contradict the original version of Law 2074-IX. The adoption of draft laws No. 6447 and No. 6576 in the first reading in early 2023 is likely to be the logical conclusion of the evolution of the legal definition of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine in the period 2017-2023: from attempts to equate them with fiat money to complete disassociation from this idea, with their initial classification as intangible assets and the possible granting of the status of special property – a digital thing.

Bitcoin, digital thing, digital money, electronic money, non-cash money, money surrogateб FinTech.