| With the development of cybereconomy,recent years saw all kinds of virtual currencies on the internet,which were propitious to online payment.In 1998,Beenz.com issued Beenz to many cooperative firms on the internet.After consumers bought some goods from the internet cooperative firms,they could get Beenz from them.When the Beenz were accumulated to an amount that could buy some goods,consumers could use them to buy what they want from any cooperative company of Beenz.com.In 2000,China Bonus.com issued a kind of sales promotion point,which could buy some telephone card and network card,to inspire the consumers to access the network station.Soon after that,Tecent Corporation issued Q coins and Sina Corporation issued U coins,which could buy their network virtual goods but were irredeemable from the issuers.In 2002,Linden Lab released the MMORPG(=massively multiplayer online role-playing game)the second life,in which Linden Dollar was the medium of interchange and could exchange with USD each other.The Renmin University Economics Forum issues the virtual currency to help the users selling their electric data,the buyers can also buy electric data using the forum virtual currency.The trade of WOW coins is very prevalent on the internet.All these phenomena indicate the prosperity of virtual currency on the internet.The prosperity and swift development of virtual currencies on the internet drew attention of internal theoretical circles,which ensued intense debate about the nature of virtual currency.There appeared two typical views,one of which thought that virtual currency was a new kind of money that was universal equivalent propitious to online payment;another view thought that virtual currency was only delivery order rather than money.At the same time,the government began to pay attention to virtual currency and made some regulatory measures.On February 14th in 2007 fourteen ministries and commissions issued the Notice on Strengthening the Regulation of Internet Bar and Online Game,which inhibited the resale of virtual currencies.In October,2008,with the approval of the State Tax Administration,Beijing Local Tax Department began to tax on the income that gain from reselling virtual currencies.Though much good research on virtual currencies have been made by the internal and foreign literature,the following deficiency exist: the first is that they don’t demarcate and classify virtual currencies completely,the second is that they incorrectly judge the nature of virtual currencies,the third is that they don’t analyze the economic meanings sufficiently,the fourth is that they don’t recognize completely the nature of regulating virtual currencies,and don’t proffer appropriate principles and measures to regulate the virtual currencies,the fifth is that they don’t completely determine the legal character of virtual currencies,and don’t research the problem of taxing on virtual currencies systematically.Therefore,it is of theoretical and practical significance for the dissertation to research virtual currencies systematically and comprehensively.The dissertation discusses five topics based on the movement process of virtual currencies,the first of which is to demarcate and classify virtual currencies completely,the second is the movement process and nature of virtual currencies,the third is economic analysis of virtual currencies,the fourth is about the risk and regulation of virtual currencies,the fifth is about the legal attribute of virtual currencies and how to safeguard and levy taxes on them.Of all of which,judging the nature of virtual currencies is the core of the dissertation.The second chapter researches the demarcation and classification of virtual currencies.The dissertation defines virtual currency as those valuable virtual things that are issued by internet network station,and whose carrier is internet electronic information,and whose holders can choose the sort and quantity when they use them to buy goods from the internet,or which can be medium of exchange in the virtual communities,and whose name and unit are different from the legal money.Virtual currency differs from electronic currency and electronic stored value with limited use(such as One Card through the Campus)and other virtual properties(such as virtual equipment and game score).The dissertation classifies virtual currency according to four criteria,the first criterion is issuing pattern which classifies virtual currencies into Type of Buying by Legal Money and Type of Getting by Network Activities,the second is payment direction which classifies it into Unidirectional and Bidirectional virtual currency,the third is payment scope which classifies it into four types that are means of payment,medium of exchange,promotion tool and motivating cooperation.The most important classification are what are according to payment direction and payment scope,which are decisive to judge the nature of virtual currency.The classification according to payment direction and payment scope can be generalized to means of payment.Means of payment can be classified into unidirectional means of payment and bidirectional means of payment according to payment direction.Unidirectional means of payment are those that can’t buy production input or other goods in the same economic system which the sellers accept when they sell their goods.Bidirectional means of payment are those that can buy production input or other goods in the same economic system which the sellers accept when they sell their goods.Means of payment can be classified into global and local means of payment.The global means of payment are those that can buy all goods in a country or a society,the local means of payment are those that can only buy some limited goods from limited sellers.The definition of bidirectional means of payment is in fact the necessary and sufficient condition of medium of exchange.The necessary and sufficient condition of a valuable thing as medium of exchange is that the valuable thing which sellers accept when they sell their goods can buy production input or goods that they need from the non-issuer in the same economic system,and the quantity of which will not change in the transaction process.The mainstream economics looks on what can be medium of exchange as money and looks on what can be easily converted into medium of exchange as money or quasi-money.The dissertation looks on the valuable things that act as medium of exchange as money(currency),and which can be classified into global and local money according to the scope of payment.The third chapter researches on the movement process and nature of virtual currencies.The dissertation thinks that the nature of virtual currency can only be judged in the movement process and which can’t be judged broadly whether some kind of virtual currency has the nature of money.The thinking clue of the dissertation is to apply the necessary and sufficient condition to the movement processes of virtual currencies,if some process satisfies the necessary and sufficient condition of medium of exchange,then this virtual currency in the process is medium of exchange and has the nature of money;if some process doesn’t satisfy the necessary and sufficient condition of medium of exchange,then virtual currency in this process is not medium of exchange and has not the nature of money.The movement process of virtual currency can be analyzed into issue process,conveyance process between non-issuers and retrieval process.The issue process is defined as the process in which the quantity of virtual currency increases;the conveyance process is defined as the process in which the quantity of virtual currency doesn’t change;the retrieval process is defined as the process in which the quantity of virtual currency decreases.The conveyance process includes,from high to low frequency that they occur,circulation process in virtual communities,resale process,charge process by non-issuer,cooperative promotion process,barter process and global circulation process.The dissertation tries to imply the function or the nature when to denominate the processes.If we apply the necessary and sufficient condition to the movement process of virtual currencies,we will know that only in the circulation process virtual currency is medium of exchange and has the nature of money.Virtual currency is local money in the circulation process in virtual communities and is global money in the global circulation process.However,the global circulation exists only in theory and logic and doesn’t occur in reality.Therefore,virtual is medium of exchange and local money only in circulation process in virtual communities,and which is at most resale object rather than medium of exchange when it is not in virtual communities,and which can’t challenge the unique status of RMB as global money.Except this,virtual currencies in other process are only unidirectional means of payment rather than medium of exchange and have not the nature of money.The fourth chapter makes the economic analysis of virtual currencies.The dissertation firstly differentiates the individual wealth and the societal wealth,the separate stored wealth and concentrated stored wealth.The main cost of concentrated stored wealth is communal cost,while the main cost of separate stored wealth is individual cost.Virtual currencies are both societal wealth and concentrated stored wealth,whose movement cost is mainly the communal cost with little individual cost.The theoretical tools to make economic analysis of virtual currency include the principle to compromise the potential surplus and transaction cost,the principle to compromise all kinds of endogenous and exogenous transaction cost,the framework of new classic economics,local equilibrium analysis and the analytic view that virtual communities act as the environment of electronic business.Virtual currencies result from the evolution of specialization and labor division,and promote the ensuing development of specialization and labor division.The basic function of virtual currency is to reduce the transaction cost of virtual goods and realize more potential surplus between consumers and internet firms,between different users of MMORPG,which means the Pareto’s Improvement.The dissertation thinks that the transaction cost of movement process of virtual currencies determine their frequencies.The unit transaction cost of issue-retrieval process,circulation process in virtual communities,resale process,charge process by non-issuers,cooperative promotion process,barter process and global circulation rank from low to high,while the frequencies of which range from high to low,so the frequencies are negative relevant to the transaction cost.Because of legal inhibition,the global circulation process doesn’t occur in fact,the frequency of which can be thought as zero and the transaction cost infinite.Except the Linden Dollar,all other virtual currencies will not influence negatively on the fiat money and the economic system.Because virtual currencies are not global money,they will not influence the value of RMB,the inflation in the virtual communities will not influence the economic and financial order in the real world.The exchange of two virtual currencies between two firms happen seldom because the transaction cost is very high.It is not necessary to establish the internet central bank to issue the virtual currencies concentratedly.The fifth chapter researches the risk and regulation of virtual currencies.The value of societal wealth is determined directly by the preference and contract,so the change of social preference can depreciate the societal wealth.If the storage center is invaded,then the concentrated stored wealth may easily lose because they are stored by the storage center.So the risk of concentrated stored wealth is larger than separate stored wealth.Virtual currencies,as societal wealth,have the risk to depreciate.As concentrated stored wealth,virtual currencies have risk in the operation firm,so regulating the operation firm is the key to regulate virtual currencies.The end aim governmental regulation is to enlarge the social welfare and increase everyone’s benefit.The secondary aim is to promote the economic development.The direct aim is to maintain the lawful economic order and prevent economic risk,which can be detailed in four points,the first is to secure the economy and finance and make a good transaction environment for virtual currencies;the second is to prevent the economic and financial risk,and hit the illegal and criminal action;the third is to safeguard the equity of business transaction and protect the lawful rights of traders;the fourth is to maintain the authority of tax system and prevent the tax evasion.The regulation aim determines the regulation principles.The regulation principles of virtual currencies are similar to those of public administration and public finance,which include justice,freedom,the rule of the law,equality,protecting interest of the public and economic efficiency.The nature of regulating virtual currencies is mainly internal business regulation.Because the issue and retrieval of virtual currencies may involve in illegal financing,the resale trade may involve money-laundering,and bidirectional Free Convertibility virtual currency is similar to foreign money in nature,so the regulation of virtual currencies involves financial regulation.The means of virtual currencies regulation include technological,administrative,economic and legal means.The legal means of virtual currencies regulation is to apply legislation and judicature in order to safeguard the lawful rights of traders of virtual currencies and hit the illegal and criminal behavior.The sixth chapter researches the legal attribute and legal aegis and tax problem of virtual currencies.Only the legal attribute of virtual currencies are recognized perfectly,can virtual currencies develop better.The dissertation thinks that the property right of virtual currencies differ from traditional real right and creditor’s rights,and the appearance of virtual property and virtual currency claim the revolution of basic theory of property rights.Considering the large cost to change judicial theory and law institution,as a makeshift,the dissertation thinks that the object of real right should be enlarged to include virtual property.The free convertible virtual currency,internet game coins and forum coins can be protected as real right,and Prepaid Recharging-by-legal-money Virtual Currency,Discount Points,Sales Promotion Points can be protected as creditor’s rights.The dissertation thinks that admitting and protecting the legality of resale trade of virtual currencies are the premise to tax on it.The tax should not impose on holding virtual property,but tax should levy on the income or profit that gains from the resale trade of virtual currencies.The main innovation of the dissertation is to establish a analytic framework based on the movement process of virtual currencies,they include:(1)the dissertation proffers a new terminology and classification of virtual currencies,especially proffers the unidirectional and bidirectional means of payment,which can help to judge the nature of virtual currencies efficiently.(2)The dissertation analyzes the movement process and nature of virtual currencies.The core innovation is to proffer the necessary and sufficient condition of medium of exchange,and investigate whether virtual currencies in all kinds of movement process satisfy the necessary and sufficient condition,which can judge whether virtual currencies in those movement process have the nature of money.(3)The dissertation analyzes the economic implication of transaction relations and contract structure through the principle to compromise the potential surplus and transaction cost.(4)The dissertation clarifies the relations between virtual currencies and real economy,especially clarifies that virtual currencies will lead to inflation and menace the unique status of RMB as legal money,and that society should establish internet central bank to issue virtual currencies concentratedly,etc.(5)The dissertation proffers the difference between individual wealth and societal wealth,between separate stored wealth and concentrated stored wealth,and based on this analyzes the legal attribute and risk of virtual currencies. |
