ANALYSIS OF THE CRYPTOCURRENCIES IN TERMS OF THE ABILITY TO FULFIL THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF MONEY

The article examine the essence of the cryptocurrency as a new and innovative technology of payments. As a result of analysis of methodology of creation, mining and use of three cryptocurrencies with the largest volume of market capitalization specifics of the functioning of cryptocurrency in the world's payment systems have been revealed. In order to analyse the prospects of the cryptocurrency in the money turnover the main indicators of the functioning of the digital currency market are considered, in particular, the rate of supply growth, the predictability of emission and the stability of the exchange rate. On the basis of the conducted research the selected cryptocurrencies were estimated on possibility to fulfilling three main functions of money – a unit of account, medium of exchange and store of value. It was revealed that all cryptocurrencies can successfully act as an intermediary in the exchange and, accordingly, serve as medium of exchange, but high volatility does not allow using them as a unit of account. Potentially, due to scheduled emission, which guarantees a low rate of supply growth, only Bitcoin can serve as a store of value. Other cryptocurrencies, which are characterized by low system power, concentration of control in the hands of the issuer and adaptability for serving special applications, are unlikely to be able to perform the functions of money without making changes to their current protocol of functioning.