Means of payment of the monetary obligations in civil law: fiduciary, scriptural and electronic money

This article analysis the means of payments known in legal literature under the expressions of fiduciary (fiat) money, scriptural money and electronic money. Conceptualization of the means of payment shall be distinguished from the payment instrument, although both these institutions refer to the same phenomenon, that of money. The legislation of the Republic of Moldova transposes gradually the regulations from the European Union, in this context being examined the evolution of the legal regulations on payment services and electronic money. A phenomenon more and more present in economic relations is that of the virtual money. The virtual money shall be distinguished from the electronic money. However, from the perspective of the legal regime the institution of virtual money raises some dilemas of qualification, which are briefly addressed in this article, with special reference to the digital asset regulated by Civil code of the Republic of Moldova as from 1st March 2019.