In this article, the authors have made analyse and description of the new, modern form of money, the so-called virtual currency, or cryptocurrency. An accent is made on the fact that the concept of virtual currency and the digital currency should not be equated, since the latter is a digital representation of real money, in the process of circulation, exchange between financial market participants within the real economy, with official legal status. The connection between the legal (or real), virtual and black (or shadow) economies through the prism of the emergence and circulation of cryptography is considered. Discovered, that in the aspect of the analysis of production and circulation of the virtual currency, insignificant attention is paid to the connection of virtual capital with the real, namely, the possibilities of the formation and use of fictitious capital in order to launder «dirty» money. The analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the virtual currency turnover in the world economy has been carried out. The authors note that the requirements that will reflect the conditions under which virtual money should be rotated in the market should be the first key step of the state, law enforcement agencies and the private sector, to analyze the essence of this phenomenon. The authors argue that in formulating the state policy of controlling the circulation of cryptocurrency in the country, attention should be focused on four main areas. They are: protection of investors (owners of virtual currency), ensuring the integrity of the world market of virtual currency turnover (due to its decentralized nature), counteraction to the emergence of money laundering through the release and circulation of virtual currencies and counteraction to tax evasion by investing in cryptocurrency. In addition, taking into account world experience, in order to establish effective control, productive cooperation between regulators and trading platforms, monitoring of transactions and identification of beneficiaries should be established, in order to avoid anonymity and the facts of money laundering. It was concluded that despite a wide range of advantages and a large number of innovations, in Ukraine, the main problem is the lack of legislative regulation of the cryptocurrency turnover, and therefore needs to be corrected. 

world economy, development of economic science, money, currency, cryptocurrency, money laundering