CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND MONETARY THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION

Abstract

The traditional concept of money is not suitable for studying the cryptocurrency
phenomenon. A more sophisticated definition is presented in this article as a
superior alternative for studying and analyzing cryptocurrencies. Its employment in the
analysis allows us to conclude that the major monetary innovation of cryptocurrencies
is to make feasible producing reliable and flexible evidence of production of goods and
services without monitoring the actions of those responsible for issuing and managing
such evidence. The main contribution of this article is to disseminate the employed
definition of money and the fundamental concept of cryptocurrency as implied by the
Economic Theory. This is especially important for the Brazilian context, in which these
concepts are not widespread.