Cryptocurrency: Nature, Evolution and Development as Means of Payment
Today the world is on the threshold of a digital revolution that will affect all spheres of public life. Cryptocurrency is one of the most relevant topics when it comes to the digitalization of the economy. A cryptocurrency is defined in this article, and a blockchain technology, which is the basis of its functioning, is separately described. The author emphasizes the advantages of the blockchain and cryptocurrencies and demonstrates the mechanism of their work. The article analyzes the evolution of cryptocurrencies and classifies the reasons that allowed them to take their place in the modern financial system. The author argues that an objective technological value of the cryptocurrency as a distributed cryptographic platform for the exchange of payment units was supported at the first stage by representatives of the digerati, who developed its ideological component. Subsequently, the cryptocurrencies attracted illegal business and speculators, which negatively affected its prospects as "a currency of the future." Today, it acts as a specific digital asset possessing a number of qualities that can allow it to become a rival to the fiat currency in the future.