VIRTUAL CURRENCIES, A NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MODEL

On the background of the development and maturity of virtual currency markets a new type of business or company emerged. The classic method by which a company becomes public by winning funds from individual investors is by selling shares in an initial public offering. What is called "initial coin offering" is in the area of crypto currency equivalent to an initial public offering in the world of the main investments, the initial offer of the currency acting as a collector of funds. Most often, initial coin offerings are used by new companies to circumvent the rigorous and regulated process of capital increase demanded by investment funds or banks. The paper aims to analyse how virtual currency work, what their characteristics are, and whether they can be an economic development factor.