The “palimpsest” of the digital era Introductory thoughts on the legal nature of cryptocurrencies and relevant data protection issues

Abstract

About a decade and a half ago, cryptocurrencies made their appearance in the global arena, bringing a drastic change in transactional life. The boom in their use coincides with - and perhaps encourages - the widening range of digital transactions internationally.1181 The main feature of all types of cryptocurrencies - crucial for their ‘’flexibility’’ of their transactional status - is the lack of interference of a state body or a (public or other) financial institution in the set of operations concerning both their creation as well as their circulation in the market. Unlike “conventional” currencies, which are issued exclusively by the entitled state authority and constitute a fundamental form of the sovereignty inextricably tied the power of the state or a ‘’state superstructure’’ (as in the case of the Euro), cryptocurrencies are digital - or even virtual - entities, which are transferred and exchanged within an independent computer network, formed as a decentralized structure and operating without any influence of third parties.