Digital Things and Digital Money According to the Civil Law of Ukraine

The article examines new legal phenomena in Ukraine related to digital money and digital things which have become relevant in the context of information technology and digitalization. The paper emphasized that digital money, which was legally regulated earlier, entered into a circulation faster than digital things. Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine removed money from the category of things, which necessitated an analysis of the relationship between digital money and digital things. The purpose of the article is to study the legal nature of digital things, to study, to a first approximation, the main types of digital things, and also to clarify the legal features of digital money, which will allow determining how these objects of civil rights are related. Methods. The study applies a formal logical method to determine the basis of the issues under study and to identify shortcomings in national legal regulation and find ways to overcome them. The choice of the comparative method makes it possible to identify common and distinctive features between digital things and digital money. This makes it possible to identify opportunities for improving the current legislation on each of the objects. In order to update the information and highlight the latest legislative changes in relation to both objects, a systematic analysis of official documents, including draft laws, regulations and other sources, was conducted. The methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and analogy were also used to formulate conclusions regarding the current civil law regulation of relations concerning digital things and digital money in Ukraine.The author emphasizes that digital money, in particular, the e-hryvnia, is an independent object of civil rights which has a binding nature. At the same time, digital things, which include virtual assets and digital content, have their own specifics and legal regime. The author analyzes legislative changes that define digital things as goods that exist in the digital environment and have property value. The article also raises the issue of virtual assets, which, according to the new legislation, are intangible goods with value. Attention is drawn to the conflicts between the new rules and the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which require further regulation. Attention is drawn to the importance of creating a secure and transparent infrastructure for the use of digital money that will take into account the interests of all market participants. It is noted that the success of digital money will depend on its ability to compete with cryptocurrencies which offer anonymity, low cost and lack of intermediaries. As a result, the article emphasizes the need for further development of legal regulation of digital money and digital things in Ukraine. The author concludes that there are common features between such a type of digital things as virtual assets in the form of cryptocurrencies and the NBU digital money. Both objects circulate in the digital environment, can be used as a means of payment, and ensure efficient and rapid exchange of goods. However, unlike cryptocurrencies, the NBU digital money has a single issuer, is recognized as legal tender in cases provided for by law, is denominated in hryvnia and gives rise to the NBU’s obligations to repay it. It is established that relations with the use of digital money should be regulated in accordance with the relevant requirements and special rules provided for by the current legislation for any monetary relations. In particular, the maximum amounts of non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens that affect the form of a contract, etc