In this article, we discuss the central banks’ attitude to cryptocurrencies and focus more on European Central Bank. First, based on the analysis of scientific literature, we show that cryptocurrency is money and performs all of the functions of money, such as the exchange medium, value storage, and accounts unit. We found a positive correlation between the level of economic development of a country and the level of regulation and the integration of crypto cryptocurrencies into the economic system. We discuss not only the approach of the ECB to cryptocurrencies, but also how it developed. According to the study data, the ECB only began to respond to cryptocurrency as an equivalent monetary instrument in 2021, established regulatory mechanisms, and developed the digital euro project.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/bm.2023.1050