Retrospective analysis based identification of potential sources of value and purchasing power of digital currencies

The emergence of digital currencies represented by immaterial carriers of monetary relations poses a key question for researchers about the sources of their value and purchasing power. The answer to this question can give an understanding of how digital currencies will be able to perform basic monetary functions, which methods and tools for regulating their turnover may be the most effective. The purpose of the study is to identify potential sources of value and purchasing power of digital currencies using retrospective analysis as a method of predictive research in economics. The purchasing power of commodity and metal money was determined by such objective factors as: the consumer properties of the goods and metals themselves; the costs of extracting the gifts of nature and metals, the manufacture of ingots and coinage of precious metals; the ratio between the demand for money and their supply. Subjective factors that determined the purchasing power of commodity and metal money are always associated with individual assessments and judgments of people: the purchasing power of commodity money in each case of their use depended on the hierarchy of consumer needs and preferences of individuals; the purchasing power of metal money depended on the monetary policy of the authorities, which determined the rules for the manufacture and circulation of ingots and coins made of precious metals, sources of replenishment of the state treasury with gold and silver, the scale of their extraction, export from the country and import into the country. The purchasing power of representatives and substitutes of money is determined by such objective factors as: the ratio between the demand for money and its supply; the speed of money turnover; the level of prices; the amount of interest rates. On the side of subjective factors influencing the purchasing power of representatives and substitutes of money, the monetary policy of the authorities remains, supported by the trust of individuals in the monetary authorities and the money they issue. The purchasing power of digital currencies is determined by such objective factors as: the ratio between the demand for money and its supply; the cost of electricity for the emission of money. On the side of subjective factors influencing the purchasing power of digital currencies are the regulatory activities of monetary authorities and the preferences of individuals. The directions of further research will be related to the continuation of the collection, processing, and analysis of statistical data on the use of digital currencies in various jurisdictions, as well as the systematization of various theoretical provisions justifying the possibilities and conditions for expanding the practice of their use.