The impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies on the global financial system: Prospects and contradictions

Abstract

Subject. This article examines the impact of cryptocurrencies on the global financial system. Objectives. The article aims to identify, systematize, and analyze the influence of cryptocurrencies, as well as the blockchain, on the global financial system, and identify the opportunities and limitations that exist at the present stage. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of logical and statistical analyses, systematization, and forecasting. Results. In accordance with the original hypothesis put forward, the article reveals that cryptocurrencies do not represent such a powerful part of the global financial system today to consider it as a driver of changes in this system, but large enough to provoke a crisis similar to the coronavirus one. Conclusions. Today, cryptocurrencies are one of the promising financial instruments, the influence of which in the global financial system can significantly increase with the appropriate actions of the economic agents themselves. The positive impact on the elements of the global financial system will make cryptocurrencies more instrumental in the global foreign exchange and capital markets.