CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET TRANSFORMATION DURING PANDEMIC COVID-19

Abstract

The pandemic and subsequent changes in various spheres of human activity have also transformed consumer behavior, particularly in the cryptocurrency market. The article is aimed at identifying the priority directions of transformations taking place in the cryptocurrency market in the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic under the influence of certain groups of factors. System and network approaches to understanding the cryptocurrency market have been identified. The cryptocurrency market is considered from a functional and institutional point of view. From a functional point of view, the cryptocurrency market is a set of economic relations in cyberspace regarding cryptocurrency mining, initial coin offering (ICO) and circulation of cryptocurrencies based on the laws of supply and demand. From an institutional point of view, the cryptocurrency market is a set of participants in the virtual currency schemes who carry out cryptocurrency transactions. The following signs of cryptocurrency market segmentation are justified such as those depending on the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency; on the nature of the crypto assets movement; on operations carried out on the market; on the region; on consumers of services. Factors which influence the functioning of the cryptocurrency market are systematized according to the following groups: macroeconomic, price, environmental, geographic, market, behavioral and technological. The influence of gold, oil prices, the daily number of Covid-19 cases and deaths from Covid-19, the MSCI ACWI global stock index, the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index on the Bitcoin exchange rate is revealed. The trends in the cryptocurrency market development in the post-war period are justified, namely the growth of investors’ interest in cryptocurrencies against the background of the initial coin offering collapse; growth of payments in cryptocurrencies; strengthening the regulatory landscape on a global and national scale; integration of the cryptocurrency market with traditional finance; attracting non-typical participants to the cryptocurrency business; expansion of participants in the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market due to the rapid cryptocurrency market development, in particular, due to the production of equipment for its operation.