DESTUFFATION OF MONEY AND THE EMERGENCE OF DIGITAL CURRENCY

Abstract

Banking has always been characterized by the use of new communication technologies, so it is not surprising that electronic media have also been actively used by banks, which led to the first forms of electronic money, which emerged from the use of monetary instruments such as bank credit card terminals and systems computer communication of banks with customers. However, from the point of view of the theory of money, electronic money is the same credit, or fiat, money, but not in paper form, but in the form of a record on electronic media. However, after the 1980s, the process of disappearance of the material form of money, or destuffation, became even more intense and, after several stages, it has led to the emergence of the digital currency, which is an adequate form of money in the new digital economy. Modern cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology are essentially an electronic combination of a “warehouse receipt” and a “bill of exchange” and serve as a possible basis for new global money.
The last stages of this process deserve special attention, namely the development of cryptocurrencies and digital currency of central banks, which reflect the competition between state issuing institutions and new players in the global financial system. As a result of the analysis we can conclude that the process of destuffation of money is nearing its logical conclusion: dereification of money itself as an economic category, because “artificial intelligence” can turn money into a completely intangible, i.e. ideal, form, which will coincide with their form and essence.