Introduction. In view of significant advances in the field of IT technologies, fundamental changes are taking place in the world economy. The financial sector was no exception. Thanks to the advent of blockchain technology, a completely new form of money has been created — cryptocurrencies, in which significant interest has been observed since their inception in 2009. The governments of a number of countries today are not only actively discussing, but also testing their own cryptocurrencies, the issuer of which is the country’s central bank. In terms of a set of characteristics, such cryptocurrencies are between fiat money and today’s cryptocurrencies. China is at the forefront of this process.

Materials and methods. Methodological basis of the research is composed of general cognition methods: evaluation, synthesis, comparison, inductance and deduction, rising from the abstract to the concrete as well as systemic-structural approach. Special methods of investigation such as acquisition of scientific treatises, information gain and economics and statistics analysis were applied during the research.

Results of the study. The Chinese government has changed its position on cryptocurrencies drastically due to its awareness of a coming crypto revolution. This allowed China to maintain the leading position in the global economy, and also led to a new economic war with the United States for the dominance in the crypto market.

Discussion. In one decade, China has gone from banning the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges and closing cryptoexchanges on its territory to making the cryptocurrency legislation more liberal and starting testing its own cryptocurrency, the cryptoyuan, which is scheduled to launch in 2021.

Conclusion. A change in China’s position on cryptocurrencies and the launch of a national cryptocurrency will not only help the country maintain its status as a global economic power, but also pose a threat to the dominance of modern world currencies and, as a result, may lead to a radical change in the entire global financial system.

Key words: cryptocurrency, cryptomarket, financial sphere, regulation of the market of cryptocurrencies, a new form of money, cryptocurrency capitalization, blockchain, China.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-29-37