Essence of cryptocurrency as methodological prerequisite of its accounting reflection

The research deals with the issue of reflection in accounting cryptocurrencies and the ways of solving it through determining the economic essence of such currencies. The purpose of the research is the analysis such economic phenomenon as cryptocurrency and formation of appropriate methodological approaches to its accounting reflection, that requires the identification of the object, the study of the methods of its assessment, the clarification of reflection on the appropriate accounts, the determination of place in reporting. The author generalizes the existed achievements of domestic and foreign researchers about the issues of accounting cryptocurrencies, differentiates between the concept of «cryptocurrency» and «electronic money», and proves that according to a set of features cryptocurrencies do not meet the requirements of the definition of «money», that is why, cryptocurrencies cannot be reflected into the enterprise balance sheet under article «Funds and their equivalents». Using the functional approach to the definition of cryptocurrency as the accounting object and the methods of comparison and analogy, the paper substantiates the order of its reflection as a variety of financial investments applying the special methods of accounting, such as assessment, accounts, and reporting.