The Ecosystem of Cryptocurrency as an Object of Civil Rights in BRICS Countries

• Author: N. Dulatova - Abd Hakim Abd Razak
• Position: South Ural State University (Chelyabinsk, Russia) - Ajman University (Ajman, United Arab Emirates)
• Pages: 37-65

BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume VII (2020) Issue 2

THE ECoSySTEm oF CRyPToCuRREnCy AS An oBJECT oF CIvIL RIGHTS

In BRICS CounTRIES

NATALYA DULATOVA,

South Ural State University (Chelyabinsk, Russia)

ABD HAKIM ABD RAZAK,

Ajman University (Ajman, United Arab Emirates)

https://doi.org/10.21684/2412-2343-2020-7-2-37-65

The article presents a comparative legal analysis of the modern legal regulation of the

multidimensionality of digital electronic currency in BRICS countries. It assesses the

possibility of civil circulation of a digital property right as an economic and legal segment

without clear legal regulation. It analyzes the judicial practice related to condentiality,

acquisition, and trading of vir tual currency. The article justies the ability to integrate

a single digital currency – CRYPTOBRICS, a single equivalent for all payments in the form

of cryptocurrency within the framework of BRICS for settlements and increase in the trade

exchange volume on these international platforms. This will provide for the legalization

and consolidation of the legal framework of cryptocurrency within the context of objects

of civil rights, allowing BRICS members to become regulatory leaders in the eld of digital

assets. We formulated a proposal to create an international agreement dening the

parameters of the digital currency issue based on blockchain technology for interstate

transactions, which allows the BRICS counties to establish the next stage of their mutual

integration for the free trade zone and the customs union. Unifying the civil circulation

of cryptocurrency and using the platform of modern non-monetary digital circulation

as our foundation, we concluded that BTC can be classied as a type of digital property

right. The article justied the theoretical denition of digital property right in the form

of cryptocurrency as a resource stored in a device or electronic system which allows the

end user to complete transactions using virtual currency and denominated in another

payment unit, as opposed to currencies issued by sovereign states. We suggested that

insurance companies be insured against all possible risks associated with cryptocurrency

circulation and cybersecurity as a civil measure to protect the order of intangible digital

codes – cryptocurrencies.

BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume VII (2020) Issue 2 38

Keywords: cryptocurrency; bitcoin; blo ckchain; digital currency; digital right; object of

civil law; BRICS; digital law; digitalization of law; law digital environments.

Recommended citation: Natalya Dulatova & Abd Hakim Abd Razak, The Ecosystem

of Cryptocurrency as an Object of Civil Rights in BRICS Countries, 7(2) BRICS Law Journal

37–65 (2020).

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Cryptocurrencies in the Civil Law of the BRICS Countries

1.1. India

1.2. Brazil

1.3. China

1.4. South Africa

1.5. Russia

Conclusion

Introduction

Today, there is a need to assess the heightened interest of investors in this

unconventional financial instrument, as well as to minimize legal risks in the

cryptography ecosystem and the scalable blockchain infrastructure. The revolution

in the eld of electronic payments and digital economy has already taken place,

but there is not yet sucient understanding of this phenomenon. Whether this

phenomenon will continue to exist, whether it will crash, or cryptocurrency will

become part of our lives – all these issues are being debated by leading world powers

trying to outline the legal framework of virtual currency.

When an author under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published

the paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” in 2008, the rst

cryptocurrency using the new blockchain technology was introduced.1

The principle forming the basis of Bitcoin can be formulated in one short sentence:

We consider an electronic coin as a chain of electronic signatures.

1 Michel Zade et al., Is Bitcoin the Only Problem? A Scenario Model for the Power Demand of Blockchains,

Frontiers in Energy Research, 13 March 2019 (Mar. 30, 2020), available at https://www.frontiersin.org/

articles/10.3389/fenrg.2019.00021/full.