Ontology of Money: A Theory of the Monetary Measurement System of the Economy

Abstract This paper develops a theory of money based on the interpretation of money as the measurement system of the economy, rather than as a set of economic functions. Within the framework of APhD: AoE, this proposition is derived from the preceding theoretical model (APhD: AoS) and is adopted here as the foundational principle of the analysis. Starting from this ontological premise, the paper derives the minimal set of requirements that any monetary measurement system must satisfy. These requirements are divided into two groups: general requirements inherited from measurement theory and additional requirements arising from the dynamic nature of the economy as the object of measurement. In particular, the concepts of optimal adaptivity and scalability of the monetary measurement scale are introduced as fundamental properties of adaptive measurement systems. The proposed framework distinguishes three logically independent levels of analysis: the ontological, the axiomatic, and the empirical. This distinction separates the nature of a monetary system from the institutional conditions under which monetary functions are realized. The explanatory and classificatory power of the theory is illustrated through the analysis of independent digital currencies and Bitcoin. The results suggest that the limitations of Bitcoin arise from the axiomatic properties of its measurement architecture rather than from technological or legal factors. Finally, the paper formulates the Principle of Ontological Primacy in Measurement, according to which the nature of the object being measured determines the requirements imposed on the measurement system. Applied to economics, this principle implies that the properties required of a monetary system must be derived from the ontology of the economy rather than from historically established conceptions of the functions of money. Keywords: ontology of money, measurement theory, monetary systems, adaptive measurement systems, digital currencies, Bitcoin, economic measurement, axiomatics, APh Doctrine.