Document Type : Original Article
Highlights
Digital money is money that is stored and transferred electronically. Any money that is based on zero and one is included in this definition, for example, the rials in the bank account represent the real rials that are kept somewhere and are included in the definition of digital money.
Cryptocurrencies are at the forefront of the economic and financial development of the world today. This has created many opportunities and threats in financial markets around the world and has attracted the attention of a significant number of citizens and economic activists in recent years. Accordingly, the number of actors involved in the trading of basic cryptocurrencies has increased significantly in recent years.
in Iran in recent years; The issue of digital currencies has been brought up due to its use in the development of exchanges and its distinctive features, and at first it attracted the attention of activists and governance actors in the monetary and banking fields. However, due to the unknown nature and many ambiguities, the import of mining equipment, the related process, and the purchase and sale of currencies produced in exchanges have been declared prohibited.
Considering the high costs of identifying and tracking the processes of cryptocurrency mining and transactions in this platform, if the relevant mechanisms are not properly regulated, it was expected that regulation and coordination regarding this technology would be done in a coordinated and integrated manner. Based on this, in this research, we are trying to explain the legal nature of cryptocurrencies as well as the limits and loopholes of government regulation in this emerging field. The research method in this study is descriptive-analytical, and the library method was used to collect the sources.
Today, the theory of regulatory government has become one of the important theories in the field of management sciences and administrative law. Based on this, regarding emerging issues in the field of new technologies such as cryptocurrencies, there is a necessity for the presence of the government as a regulatory body.
The following can be said about the concept of regulation and its necessity in the field of cryptocurrencies:
Governance of innovation policy includes a wide range of tasks and activities and its focus is on complex interactions between different actors. With the emergence of a new business model in a sector, the existing arrangements of actors are disrupted and it is necessary to establish new arrangements for the new situation. Most of the new business models that have emerged based on the digital economy have a common feature that will be the way for governments to regulate these areas.
The government's regulatory actions in the field of economic security include: the need to provide economic security, clarify the criminal policy to fight money laundering and regulate the inflationary effects of cryptocurrencies.
The use of digital currencies may conflict with the fundamental rights of individuals, and therefore the necessity of government intervention in this area is also felt. Legal challenges can be investigated and analyzed according to the legal nature of cryptocurrencies.
Legal challenges in the field of cryptocurrencies include: the legal nature of cryptocurrencies, the lack of a central custodian institution, instability and price fluctuations, high risk and its high vulnerability, threats to the real economy, weakening of the central bank and intermediary institutions, the possibility of tax evasion, money laundering. and the expansion of the informal sector of the economy and the need to legalize cryptocurrencies.
The use of digital currencies may conflict with the fundamental rights of individuals, and therefore the necessity of government intervention in this area is also felt. Regulatory legal solutions in the field of protection of citizens' rights include things such as: protection of private data, freedom of information and communication, and information transparency.
Today, under the influence of data exchange of electronic messages between public and private institutions, the issue of information protection has become an important matter. This information is classified into two groups of public and personal information.
Providing transparent information by governments in the field of cryptocurrencies and providing sufficient education to citizens considering the emerging nature of this field is one of the tasks of governments, which will ultimately lead to the protection of citizens' rights, especially their financial rights.
Regarding money, many lexical, legal and terminological definitions have been given. Based on these definitions, money is divided into several types, one of which is virtual money, which is designed with special algorithms and is different from electronic money. Regarding the legal reasons expressed by the supporters and opponents of using virtual money, it can be concluded that it is international, easy to buy with low operational cost, speed of exchanges, resistant to inflation, no effect of sanctions, creation of new jobs, Security and privacy, transparency and neutrality, the possibility of branching and upgrading the protocol, the relative advantage of mining Bitcoin and some cryptocurrencies, the initial supply of coins, smart contracts, the possibility of creating regional cryptocurrencies and facilitating bilateral and multilateral monetary agreements. Facilitating the globalization of domestic businesses and improving non-oil exports, the impossibility of falsifying crypto-currencies, one of the main reasons for the supporters and instability and price fluctuations, high risk and its high vulnerability, lack of specific laws and regulations, threatening the real economy. The lack of identification of the sender and receiver, the weakening of the central bank and intermediary institutions, the possibility of tax evasion, money laundering and the expansion of the informal sector of the economy, the occurrence of security problems, and the problem of inheritance are among the most important reasons for the opposition to the flow of virtual money. In the meantime, the government's role as a regulatory body and its intervention in the field of cryptocurrencies will reduce the problems caused by investment risk. Based on this, the government, on the one hand, as a regulator, must enter the field and affect the issue from two aspects: first, in terms of providing economic security to citizens, which is done through ways such as explaining the criminal policy to create a dead end for the occurrence of crimes. Like money laundering, etc., it is necessary to prevent the inflationary effects of cryptocurrencies in the country's economy, etc. Second, in order to protect the rights of citizens, the government must guarantee fundamental rights such as protection of privacy, protection of freedom of information and communication, as well as information transparency in the field of cryptocurrencies.
