Public Administration Mechanisms in the Sphere of Digital Currencies: Architecture and Structural Asymmetries in Ukraine

Abstract

The relevance of the study stems from the rapid growth of the digital currency market and the widening gap between its dynamics and the State’s capacity for efficient public administration of this sphere. Existing research remains fragmented and largely focused on the financial and legal dimension, whereas a holistic public-administration approach accounting for the interaction between the global and national levels of regulation has not yet been developed; for Ukraine this problem is aggravated by martial law, capital movement restrictions and the risk of currency substitution. The aim of the article is the theoretical and methodological substantiation and systematisation of public administration mechanisms for digital currencies, and the conceptualisation of the structural asymmetries identified in their formation and application at the global and national levels on the basis of a risk-based approach. The study employs the method of typologisation; systemic and critical analysis of legal acts and documents of supranational institutions (FATF, FSB, BIS/CPMI, IOSCO, IMF); causal analysis; the matrix (morphological) method for constructing analytical tools; a comparative method for juxtaposing the regulatory regimes of Ukraine, the EU, China and the G20 countries; and a risk-based approach. The managerial characteristics of digital currencies, the relationship between risks and regulatory objectives, the mechanisms of public administration, and their structural asymmetries at the national and global levels are examined. Three interrelated analytical tools are proposed: a framework of management-relevant characteristics of digital currencies, a «risks – objectives» model, and a matrix of public administration mechanism formation at the global and national levels. It is found that unified regulation of digital currencies is impossible, since the maturity of managerial influence depends on the currency type: for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins global standards outpace national practice, whereas for central bank digital currencies the opposite asymmetry holds. The scientific novelty lies in the shift from a financial-legal to a public-administration approach and in conceptualising public administration mechanisms together with their structural asymmetries in actual global and national governance practice. Practical recommendations are proposed regarding the delineation of regulators’ mandates, the reduction of jurisdictional gaps, and the protection of monetary sovereignty.