Problems of defining the concept and nature of virtual assets as an object of legal regulation in economic activity in Ukraine

The article reveals the problem of defining the concept and nature of virtual assets through the prism of their legal regulation at the national and international levels. The factors determining the use of virtual assets in economic activity around the world and, accordingly, the relevance of the chosen topic of scientific research are determined: informatization of all areas of social life, technological boom, emergence of new information and communication technologies, which can significantly optimize business processes, globalization processes in the international economy, etc. Attention is focused on the lack of a unified approach to defining the concept and legal nature of a virtual asset and the presence of various approaches to solving this issue in national and foreign science of law: identification of virtual assets with the category of virtual currency; definition of a virtual asset through the concept of "information” or "data”; distinguishing the categories "virtual currency” and "virtual assets” as a part and a whole, etc. A conclusion was made about the importance of using the classification of virtual assets according to the criterion of their functional purpose for the formation of the mechanism of their differentiated legal regulation. Attention is also focused on the lack of a single legal approach to determining the essence of virtual assets in the Ukrainian legal system. There were analyzed relevant provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Virtual Assets”, the draft Concept of State Policy in the Field of Virtual Assets, drafts of the Law "On the Circulation of Cryptocurrencies in Ukraine” No. 7183 dated 06.10.2017, the Law "On Stimulating the Market of Cryptocurrencies and Their Derivatives in Ukraine” No. 7183 dated 10.10.2017 and the Law "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine (regarding stimulation of the market of cryptocurrencies and their derivatives in Ukraine)” No. 7246 dated 30.10.2017 in the article. Attention is also focused on the need to harmonize the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine "On Virtual Assets” in terms of defining a virtual asset as an object of civil rights. As the conclusions of the conducted scientific research, the author identified the conceptual problems of defining the essence and nature of virtual assets as an object of legal regulation and proposed specific ways to solve some of them, namely: specification of the legal definition of virtual assets in the Law of Ukraine No. 2074-IX; consolidation of the legal definition of the nature of the virtual asset; legislative consolidation of activity in the field of virtual assets and virtual currencies in the Classifier of types of economic activity, etc.