ЕЛЕКТРОННА ВАЛЮТА: МІЖНАРОДНИЙ ДОСВІД І ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ ВПРОВАДЖЕННЯ В УКРАЇНІ

The article examines the digitalization of the national currency in Ukraine, prerequisites and prospects for introduction of electronic currency as a separate type of electronic money. The study discloses the international experience of central banks that explored the possibility of issuing their own digital currency. On the global money market, the first full-fledged release of the electronic national monetary unit, the Sand Dollar, was performed by the Central Bank of the Bahamas; according to calculations, expected useful life of the Sand Dollar, during which it will go through the process of full depreciation, is 5 years. Analysis of the net book value of the Sand Dollar project for 2020-2021 indicates extremely low growth rates (1.17%), but expenses and accumulated depreciation increased by 21.48% and 435.51%, respectively. Such dynamics indicate that the “payback” rate of the Sand Dollar has significantly increased already during the second year of implementation. It is emphasized that the expediency of digitalization of China's national currency is determined by two factors: private sector influence and leveling dependence of international currency market transactions on the US dollar and SWIFT interbank settlement system. The current position of Ukraine regarding the recognition of the new monetary unit and its legal regulation, macroeconomic effect, options of the business model of issuing the e-hryvnia are highlighted. It was emphasized that in order to increase the level of financial inclusion, reduce the share of cash payments, speed up payments, make them more convenient and transparent, in 2016-2018 the National Bank of Ukraine – one of the first central banks in the world – began to explore the possibility of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) – e-hryvnia as an innovative, secure tool for retail payments. As of today, there are two versions of e-hryvnia model under development by the National Bank: centralized, which assumes that the only possible issuer of the e-hryvnia is the National Bank, and decentralized, in which the real issuers of digital monetary units are commercial banks, although under control of the National Bank. It was determined that Ukrainian money market is the most prepared for the introduction of digital currency among all other European countries that are working on such projects as “The State in a Smartphone” and launch of “Diia” national application.