Conceptual Aspects Of The Current Stage Of Money Digitalization And Competition Between Currencies

The currency evolves over time as a result of commercial, financial and payments innovations, which requires frequent re-examination of its essential aspects. The question that arises today is whether "digital currency" (electronic, numerical, virtual, etc.) is a new form of currency or just a means of managing established monetary forms. From a functional perspective, the answer is very clear: digital currency is not, at least for now, a new form of legal tender currency. But there are other approaches to the currency, in particular that of the economists of the Austrian school (K. Menger, L. Mises and F. Hayek), according to which the currency is a general purchasing power, which circulates in a given, limited space. Based on this approach, it can be said that a change is currently taking place. The material form of the currency becomes an electromagnetic record in the memory of a computer or in the chip of a card. As for space, it tends to materialize in the form of computer networks interconnected by telephone lines, optical fibber, radio waves, satellites, etc. Given this trend, the next-generation digital currency is a genuine currency in the sense that its purchasing power has a fully materialized circulation area. In its current form, the "pure" digital currency is, for now, in a state of gestation, but in the future it will probably be an authentic currency.