Résumé
States and their laws are being challenged by the emergence of a wide variety of digital objects, which are commonly named virtual currencies. The term virtual currency was first used to refer to online gaming currencies and assets, and later to online prepaid and loyalty systems created within commercial networks. However, the phenomenon has grown significantly with the emergence of crypto-assets, a category that includes crypto-currencies (bitcoin, ether, monero…) and tokens issued in blockchain (“utility tokens”, “security tokens”, “stablecoins”). Although they were developed outside of state regulatory frameworks, the legal systems are dealing with these objects and subjecting them to existing or sui generis regulations in order to limit the threats associated with their development while benefiting from the positive economic spin-offs. Given the instability that constantly affects both the virtual currency market and its legal framework, an overall legal study of virtual currencies requires a conceptual approach that consists of starting from the properties of the object to be qualified in order to integrate it into the legal systems. In this context, virtual currencies can be seen as a new class of digital assets, issued by a private entity within the framework of a computer system, which can serve as a monetary substitute. Some of these assets are representative of a legal promise by an issuer or a third party. Others are things, which are valuable and can be owned. This duality corresponds to the summa divisio of intangible goods, which opposes intangible rights and intangible properties. On the basis of this fundamental division, it is proposed to include this new class of assets in the fundamental concepts of private law.
Source: http://www.theses.fr/2022BORD0283
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