Jacek Binda

Money is a widely accepted commodity, which enables us to determine the economic value of purchased goods and services and make payments. The dynamic development of technology and social expectations has expanded the spectrum of available types of payment instruments, including e-money and cryptocurrencies. Among dematerialized means of payment, cryptocurrencies began to play an important role due to their independence from central financial institutions and a highly effective form of saving money. The paper aims to present legal authorization, referring to cryptocurrencies, in countries of the European Union and prove that bitcoin is a high-riskу financial instrument. The methodology of the study was based on the review of available legal acts and literature (regarding the nature and function of money) and Value at Risk (VaR) model on the example of risk assessment of cryptocurrencies with respect to investing in the selected currencies. The outcomes showed several discrepancies in the definition of cryptocurrencies. They indicated that bitcoin, as one of the best-known cryptocurrencies, does not fulfill the functions of money formulated in economic theory (in relation to e-money). Besides, cryptocurrencies have been shown to be high-risky instruments.