Financial technology innovation within the developed world is driving financial markets, yet its adoption is lagging among consumers in emerging markets. At the same time, most African economies continue to be at the tail end of global financial innovations adoption. Given lagging consumer adoption of cryptocurrency in South Africa, the purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency.,A survey instrument based on the TPB was used to collect quantitative data for predicting adoption from adult distance students at the Mancosa, Cape Town campus. For data analysis, the two-step structural equation modelling approach was used.,The findings indicate that attitude and perceived behavioural control positively impact the intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Subjective norm showed a negative non-significant influence. Overall, the results of the study show that the model has a good model fit and can be used to explain the theory.,The results of this study may not be generalisable to the wider population as it is only based on a cross-sectional study of a sample of adult students at a single institute in South Africa.,The contribution of this paper is threefold: it is one of a few studies on the behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency in South Africa using the TPB model, it contributes towards the use of predictive behavioural economics models in understanding consumer behaviour critical to accelerating the adoption of financial innovations, and the results of the study also inform behaviour change strategies that can be applied by practitioners or policymakers to improve adoption. Studies of this nature may lead to the development of financial innovation in emerging markets through a nuanced understanding of consumer behaviour.

Predicting FinTech innovation adoption in South Africa: the case of cryptocurrency

Purpose (1) A concern often expressed in relation to cryptocurrencies is the environmental impact associated with increasing energy consumption and mining pollution. Controversy remains regarding how environmental attention and public concerns adversely affect cryptocurrency prices. Therefore, the paper aims to introduce the index of cryptocurrency environmental attention (ICEA), which aims to capture the relative extent of media discussions surrounding the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies. (2) The impacts of cryptocurrency environmental attention on long-term macro-financial markets and economic development remain part of undeveloped research fields. Based on these factors, the paper will further examine the effects of the ICEA on financial markets or economic developments. Design/methodology/approach (1) The paper introduces a new index to capture cryptocurrency environmental attention in terms of the cryptocurrency response to major related events through gathering a large amount of news stories around cryptocurrency environmental concerns – i.e. &gt;778.2 million news items from the LexisNexis News &amp; Business database, which can be considered as Big Data – and analysing that rich dataset using variety of quantitative techniques. (2) The vector error correction model (VECM) and structural VECM (SVECM) [impulse response function (IRF), forecast error variance decomposition (FEVD) and historical decomposition (HD)] are useful for characterising the dynamic relationships between ICEA and aggregate economic activities. Findings (1) The paper has developed a new measure of attention to sustainability concerns of cryptocurrency markets' growth, ICEA. (2) ICEA has a significantly positive relationship with the UCRY indices, volatility index (VIX), Brent crude oil (BCO) and Bitcoin. (3) ICEA has a significantly negative relationship with the global economic policy uncertainty (GlobalEPU) and global temperature uncertainty (GTU). Moreover, ICEA has a significantly positive relationship with the industrial production (IP) in the short term, whilst having a significantly negative relationship in the long term. (4) The HD of the ICEA displays higher linkages between environmental attention, Bitcoin and UCRY indices around key events that significantly change the prices of digital assets. Research limitations/implications The ICEA is significant in the analysis of whether cryptocurrency markets are sustainable regarding energy consumption requirements and negative contributions to climate change. Understanding of the broader impacts of cryptocurrency environmental concerns on cryptocurrency market volatility, uncertainty and environmental sustainability should be considered and developed. Moreover, the paper aims to point out future research and policy legislation directions. Notably, the paper poses the question of how cryptocurrency can be made more sustainable and environmentally friendly and how governments' cryptocurrency policies can address the cryptocurrency markets. Practical implications (1) The paper develops a cryptocurrency environmental attention index based on news coverage that captures the extent to which environmental sustainability concerns are discussed in conjunction with cryptocurrencies. (2) The paper empirically investigates the impacts of cryptocurrency environmental attention on other financial or economic variables [cryptocurrency uncertainty (UCRY) indices, Bitcoin, VIX, GlobalEPU, BCO, GTU index and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development IP index]. (3) The paper provides insights into making the most effective use of online databases in the development of new indices for financial research. Social implications Whilst blockchain technology has a number of useful implications and has great potential to transform several industries, issues of high-energy consumption and CO2 pollution regarding cryptocurrency have become some of the main areas of criticism, raising questions about the sustainability of cryptocurrencies. These results are essential for both policy-makers and for academics, since the results highlight an urgent need for research addressing the key issues, such as the growth of carbon produced in the creation of this new digital currency. The results also are important for investors concerned with the ethical implications and environmental impacts of their investment choices. Originality/value (1) The paper provides an efficient new proxy for cryptocurrency and robust empirical evidence for future research concerning the impact of environmental issues on cryptocurrency markets. (2) The study successfully links cryptocurrency environmental attention to the financial markets, economic developments and other volatility and uncertainty measures, which has certain novel implications for the cryptocurrency literature. (3) The empirical findings of the paper offer useful and up-to-date insights for investors, guiding policy-makers, regulators and media, enabling the ICEA to evolve into a barometer in the cryptocurrency era and play a role in, for example, environmental policy development and investment portfolio optimisation. 

An index of cryptocurrency environmental attention (ICEA)

Статистика : учеб. пособие для студентов направления подготовки «Экономика и предпринимательство»

Virtual currencies, like Bitcoin, raise new legal questions due to their innovative technological concepts. While academic research covers nearly all areas of the technological concepts of those currencies, legal research focuses only on a few topics. The papers which have been published so far discuss mainly economic law, tax law and financial regulations. At the same time governments are starting to explicitly regulate virtual currencies in terms of anti-money-laundering (AML) and to clarify or strengthen the legal basis for prosecuting crimes in the context of virtual currencies. Furthermore, criminal investigation in the context of virtual currencies is intensifying with the rising number of virtual currency related crimes. Moreover, governments should also start to consider crime prevention in the context of virtual currencies. AML regulation, crime prevention and prosecution have to take heed of the fundamental rights of the citizens affected. To date, legal research has not discussed the relationship between AML regulation (in the context of virtual currencies), crime prevention (in the context of virtual currencies), the prosecution of virtual currencies and fundamental rights. Many regulatory concepts will collide with the fundamental right to property of the owners of virtual currency units and the freedom to pursue a trade or profession of owners and operators of exchange platforms, mining pools etc. In virtual currencies organized as peer-to-peer systems, the freedom of association also has to be mentioned. With particular regard to prosecuting, law enforcement agencies restrict the freedom of telecommunication, data privacy (including the right to informational self-determination), freedom of expression, and the freedom of information. Whenever some of these fundamental rights are impinged upon, regulation concepts and investigation or prosecution approaches must be provided for by law and must fulfill the criterion of necessity. Further interdisciplinary research is needed to develop efficient and legit prevention and criminal investigation concepts.

Virtual Currencies and Fundamental Rights

Cryptocurrencies and fundamental rights

This article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the legislative approaches to the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the BRICS countries and the Eurasian Economic Union. During the analysis, regulatory legal acts and draft laws, including material on judicial practice, of the Russian Federation, China, India, Brazil, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia were studied. The use of a comparative-legal method makes it possible to develop recommendations about the development of legislation on the circulation of cryptocurrencies within the BRICS countries. The assessment of the experience of EEU countries, and especially that of the Republic of Belarus, has great importance since the Russian Federation is a member country of both the EEU and BRICS. Comparative analysis was achieved by taking into account such key points as the existence of a regulatory framework, regulation of transaction taxation and counteracting the legalization of profits from crime. The results of the analysis are presented for each country separately and then systematized in the form of an analytical table. Based on the analysis, three approaches to the regulation of cryptocurrencies are identified: conservative, liberal and neutral. The study of the experiences of the BRICS and EEU countries allowed the authors to conclude that these countries need to formulate similar requirements for the regulation of cryptocurrencies so as to avoid the migration of investment and capital to other countries which have a more liberal approach.

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Cryptocurrency regulation in the BriCs Countries and the eurasian economic union

With the rapid development of digital technologies and globalization, telework is becoming increasingly common. For the BRICS countries, the formation of a modern legal regulation model for telework is of great importance. In drafting legislation, it is essential to take into account economic and cultural factors, as well as the need to ensure gender equality. This article presents an analysis of current trends in telework development in the BRICS countries. Its findings reveal various reasons for a growing need to regulate telework. For Brazil, the issue of ecology plays an important role; for China and India, the possibility of integration into the world economy; in Russia, the focus is still on the procedural issues concerning the conclusion and termination of employment contracts; in South Africa, the issue of ensuring not only gender equality, but also racial equality is acute. The analysis gives the authors grounds to conclude that the BRICS countries are still lagging behind the United States and the European Union in the area of telework labor law, despite its widespread prevalence. The BRICS countries do not yet produce the necessary statistics on the prevalence of telework. Issues relating to BRICS's deepening integration require the development of common approaches to regulating the work of teleworkers. The harmonization of legislation between Russia and China is of particular importance due to the territorial factor.

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Telework in BRICS: Legal, Gender and Cultural Aspects

The article is devoted to the analysis of modern European model types of crowdfunding and the Russian practice of crowdfunding. The methodological component of the work was made up of general scientific and special methods, which include statistical and comparative analysis. The purpose of this study is to compare the modern European crowdfunding market with the Russian alternative finance market. At the first stage, the process of transformation of model types of crowdfunding in the European region and the UK from 2015 to the present has been studied. At the second stage, the situation on the Russian crowdfunding market is considered. As a result of the comparison of the European and Russian alternative finance markets, the latter has revealed a huge lag in terms of the variety of model types of crowdfunding offered, available and used on the market, as well as the volume of resources attracted through crowdfunding platforms.

Model Types of Crowdfunding: a Comparative Analysis of the Russian and European Experience

Digital Labor Platforms: Opportunities, Risks, and Perspectives for Decent Work

The COVID-19 outbreak forced many employers worldwide to organize remote workplaces and introduce new technologies of labor organization in order to protect employees from the threat of disease. After the pandemic is over, it is reasonable to anticipate an increase in telework. The legal framework of telework continues to evolve unevenly in different countries around the world. The BRICS countries lag behind the United States and the European Union in terms of the legal regulation of telework, and they lack the necessary statistical data collection. The integration of the BRICS countries calls for the development of unified approaches to the legal status of teleworkers. The creation of new jobs in the conditions of the pandemic requires the development of the regulatory framework, analysis of innovative experience and assessment of law enforcement. This article systematizes the approaches of Russian and world scientists to the major issues of telework regulation, including: the conceptual apparatus, the advantages and disadvantages of remote employment, the analysis of legislative initiatives of the BRICS countries in the context of a pandemic and the allocation of best practices, the features of concluding, changing and terminating an employment contract, determining the rights and obligations of teleworkers, the implementation of the right to social partnership, and ensuring labor protection, safety and well-being. The findings of the analysis lead to the conclusion that in order to achieve decent work in digital economy, the BRICS countries need to design a general approach to the regulation of telework for similar to the approach taken by the European Union, and to upgrade existing legislation.

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M. Chudinovskikh

Papers

Cryptocurrency regulation in the BriCs Countries and the eurasian economic union

Telework in BRICS: Legal, Gender and Cultural Aspects

Model Types of Crowdfunding: a Comparative Analysis of the Russian and European Experience

Digital Labor Platforms: Opportunities, Risks, and Perspectives for Decent Work

Regulation of Telework in BRICS: Lessons from the Pandemic