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1.3.Virtualcurrenciesandcryptocurrencies
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cryptographyenthusiasts,becamebitcoin.Itscreatorisconsideredtobeaperson
whoseidentityremainsunknown,usingthealiasofSatoshiNakamoto.In2008he
publishedastudyentitledBitcoin:Apeer-to-peerelectroniccashsystem(Nakamoto,
2008),beingthemanifestoandtheconceptualbasisofthedecentralisedsettlement
systemlaunchedayearlater.
Soonalternativecryptocurrencies(altcoins)begantoemerge,suchasthenamecoin
andthelitecoin(2011),thepeercoin(2012),thedogecoinandtheripple(2013),and
since2014onecouldactuallyseetheirinundation.Atthebeginningof2020,about
2.5thousandofthemwerelistedonexchanges(CoinMarketCap,n.d.).Therapid
increaseinthenumberofcryptocurrenciesandintheirpopularitywasconditioned
bytheboomfromthesecondhalfof2017,whentheexchangeratesofbitcoinand
altcoinweregrowingatanenormouspace,associatedwiththepossibilityofvery
highreturnsoninvestmentinthem.Atthattime,thisnewandstillfledglingelement
oftheinternationalfinance’slandscapewasnoticedbyawideraudienceandbecame
anactualglobalphenomenon.
1.3.Virtualcurrenciesandcryptocurrencies
Thenotionofcryptocurrenciesshouldbeanalysedagainstthebackgroundof
theconceptsofelectronicmoney(e-money),ofdigitalcurrenciesandofvirtual
currencieswhicharevariouslydefinedintheliterature.Thefirstofthesecategories,
theoldestandthebroadestone,isgenerallyexplainedinafairlyuniformwayas
adigitalrepresentationoftraditionalmoney(fiatcurrency)servingthepurposeof
electronictransferofthevalue(FinancialActionTaskForce[FATF],2014,p.4;
Heetal.,2016,pp.7,8;Wiśniewska,2015,p.3).TheEuropeanUnion’sdirective
clarifiesthisdefinition,indicatingthatitisamonetaryvaluestoredelectronically
onatechnicaldevice,whichcanbeusedformakingpaymentsnotonlytoitsissuer
(EuropeanCentralBank[ECB],n.d.).Fromapracticalpointofviewthisnotion
isquitelooselyassociatedwithcryptocurrenciesthemselves,whichdonothave
adirectequivalentintraditionalmoneyoramonetaryvalue,andevenmoresothey
arenotitsrepresentation.Acloserrelationshipisvisibleintheconceptofdigital
currencies,althoughtheirdefinitionisnotsounambiguousanymore.Theyare
describedsometimesasadigitalrepresentationofe-moneyorofavirtualcurrency
(i.e.thedigitalrepresentationofvalue)(FATF,2014,p.4;Heetal.,2016,pp.7,
8;Piotrowska,2018,p.15),andalsoasasynonymforavirtualcurrency(Bank
forInternationalSettlements[BIS],2015).Therefore,whatisthisvirtualcurrency,
anotionfundamentalfromthepointofviewofformulatingthedefinitionof
cryptocurrencies?
AvirtualcurrencyisdefinedbytheEuropeanCentralBankas“adigitalrepresentation
ofvalue,notissuedbyacentralbank,creditinstitutionore-moneyinstitution,
which,insomecircumstances,canbeusedasanalternativetomoney”(ECB,2015,