In this article, the author considers the question of how the understanding of the essence of cryptocurrency as a destructive innovative technology is built. The position of the author lies in the fact that the cryptocurrency, even though it is, by all indications, one of the types of fintech, is considered separately in science. Due to this, in various works of scientists from different countries, one can note a trend towards a completely opposite understanding of what exactly is a cryptocurrency and what is its significance for changing the modern world financial system. Based on a comparative analysis of research positions, the author makes an attempt to evaluate several approaches to the definition of the concept of cryptocurrency. The author identifies three such approaches and also evaluates some purely local theories regarding cryptocurrencies and their nature. In order to express an individual position, the author highlights the main characteristics of the cryptocurrency and proposes to consider them not as a type of already existing currencies, but as a separate phenomenon. The author concludes that the study of cryptocurrencies at the micro and macro levels will allow not only to assess the risks of their use at a particular moment by specific categories of technology consumers but to assess the systemic nature of the phenomenon and its impact on the future. This, in turn, should allow answering the question of how and when it is worth starting to regulate cryptocurrencies by the law - and whether it is necessary to do this in general.
