Structure of legal relations related to the circulation of virtual assets

The article discloses subjects and objects of legal relations that are related to the circulation of virtual assets on the virtual assets market of Ukraine. The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that the article analyzes the innovations of national legislation and in the context of the implementation of the basis of legal regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges as subjects of the virtual assets market. In particular, the provisions of the Law of Ukraine «On Virtual Assets» were considered as a future legal basis for the legalization of cryptocurrency exchanges and the virtual assets market as a whole. The article highlights the positive and problematic aspects of the regulation of the above-mentioned law. In particular, the presence of freedom of emission and decentralization can be attributed to the positive aspects. The absence of intermediaries in transactions leads to a decrease in costs. That is, virtual assets are available to a wide range of users and have a fairly high degree of protection. Negative points are manifested in the presence of the threat of illegal use of virtual assets for the purpose of financing terrorism, carrying out subversive activities, trading in prohibited goods and using them to launder the proceeds of crime. The purpose of the study was to consider and reveal the structure of legal relations related to the circulation of virtual assets in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine. The following research methods were used during the research: general scientific research methods (deduction and induction, synthesis and analysis, scientific abstraction, systematic approach); special legal methods of knowledge (formally legal, comparative legal, retrospective, legal forecasting); methodological substantiation of the essence, structure and nature of the structure of legal relations in the field of circulation of virtual assets, which is the object of the study. The legal participants of the virtual assets market, the procedure for their registration, licensing of activities of service providers related to the circulation of virtual assets are characterized. Based on the analysis, it was emphasized the importance of determining the legal mechanisms of state regulation, supervision and monitoring of the activity of cryptocurrency exchanges, finalizing the provisions of the law, as well as the need for further research on this topic of the article. The conducted research summarizes the existing structure of new legal relations related to the circulation of virtual assets.