DIGITAL ASSETS AS PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS: ESSENCE AND PRACTICE OF IMPLEMENTING

Various digital assets have become an integral part of global, and especially individual national economic systems. The creation and introduction into circulation of national digital currencies, the development of blockchain technologies is an element of the innovative strategy of digitization of the financial system. The main goal of the article is to study practical cases of the use of digital assets (bitcoin in El Salvador, eNaira in Nigeria, eCNY in China). Such practical cases allow us to identify the positive and negative effects of the implementation of this strategy. And predict risks, such as the legalization of cryptocurrencies for mutual settlements of external debt obligations, the lack of coverage of these assets, the creation of a "soap bubble" effect, which may lead to another global financial crisis. The study showed that there are several potential advantages - with the help of cryptocurrency and blockchain mining, various projects in the business, social and state spheres can be implemented, the sales market should potentially increase, the level of corruption should decrease due to the transparency of operations, and the cost of resources should be rationalized. However, negative effects and additional risks are also present, although it is much more difficult to assess them due to the too short period of practical implementation of these assets in the form of means of payment and the limited geography of such cases. Key words: virtual assets, digital commerce, global space, digital financial services, blockchain.