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Blockchain Technology

this respect, it can be said that cryptocurrencies cannot fulfil the function of being a

unit of account. The third function to look at in the evaluation of cryptocurrencies is

the store of the value function. People want to save. Money maintains its value over

time, enabling people to use it for their desire to accumulate and keep wealth. For

this, the value of money must be predictable. As mentioned before, the high volatil­

ity of cryptocurrencies prevents them from being used as a reliable tool for storing

value. At this stage, those who anticipate that the value of a cryptocurrency will

increase can buy it for investment purposes, but it is not possible to say that it is seen

as a tool for value storage.

When the points discussed here in terms of both the features and the functions

of money are evaluated, in general, it is quite difficult to say that cryptocurrencies

are real money. Considering the distance it has travelled since the day it was first

released, it is a fact that cryptocurrency has come a significant distance towards

becoming money. It will continue to be debated whether cryptocurrencies fulfil

the functions of money and whether they have these characteristics. However, what

is indisputable is that cryptocurrency will move closer to the general definition of

money as it provides stability and its widespread use increases.

2.5  VALUES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES

One of the important discussions of the cryptocurrency agenda is how the value of

cryptocurrencies is determined and what factors are affected. What should be stated

primarily in this regard is that cryptocurrencies do not have value due to their nature;

they gain value by being accepted by people. Just as the price of a normal good in

the markets is determined depending on the supply and demand conditions, it can be

said that the value of cryptocurrencies changes depending on the supply and demand

conditions. However, it can also be said that prices can be affected by many different

factors besides supply and demand, since there are no perfect competition conditions

in the markets. Many factors, such as security, legal status, usage status, transaction

speed, ease of use, costs, volume, supply, tax, crypto stock market, general percep­

tion, speculative and manipulative initiatives, news, etc., affect the value of crypto­

currencies. The most prominent among these factors are security, legal status and

volume (Li & Wang, 2017; Garratt, & Wallace, 2018).

The most important factor affecting the value of cryptocurrencies can be expressed

as security. The biggest reason for the cautious approach to cryptocurrencies is that

it is a new technology, and society hesitates at the security point. A security vul­

nerability or the possibility of this will affect the value of money negatively, and

every positive step taken at the security point will increase the value of the relevant

cryptocurrencies. Another important factor affecting the value of cryptocurrencies

is their legal status. While the adoption of cryptocurrencies by law will help rapidly

increase their value, their evaluation as illegal will negatively affect their value. In

addition, the taxation of these currencies is also linked to their legal status. Gaining

legal status and subjecting them to excessive taxation may also negatively affect

their value. The volume of cryptocurrencies in the market is also considered to affect

their value. It is said that cryptocurrency markets are very volatile, which prevents