FINTECH, TECHFIN AND CRYPTO CURRENCY: RULED GAME OR FREE SURF?

The development of financial technologies fundamentally changes the face of the financial market, the speed of execution of financial transactions, and opportunities for attracting new customers. The growing role of digital assets (forecast 2024 AUM USD 80.08 billion, the number of users in the digital payment market will grow to 4805.00 million people by 2028) opens up a whole range of issues that arise before the regulatory authorities of different countries, and which need to be regulated, following the rules of the open free market on the one hand, and protecting both entire financial systems and individual users from possible risks arising from the development of new financial technologies. The main goal of the presented research is the analysis and systematization of existing approaches that are used to regulate the activities of economic entities such as FinTech and TechFin, including in the field of circulation of cryptocurrencies as an element of the financial technology market, as well as the substantiation of opportunities and threats for the traditional financial market, which arise as a result of the active development of FinTech and TechFin companies. As a result of a comparative analysis of the characteristics of FinTech and TechFin companies, it was established that these players in the financial market are differentiated by such features as access to capital, access to technology, access to databases, availability and the possibility of using technological infrastructure. It has been established that the absence or low level of harmonization of regulatory norms regarding the provision of financial services can limit competition, provoke unscrupulous behaviour in the market, and negatively affect consumers of financial services. It has been proven that it is the harmonization of regulatory requirements and their differentiation according to established distinctive features that will contribute to preserving the integrity of financial markets and financial inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]