Cryptocurrencies as a generic object of crime in polish criminal law

Abstract

The presented study is devoted to the possibility of recognizing cryptocurrencies as the object of an offense under Polish criminal law. The Author of the study firstly explained what the object of the crime is under Polish criminal law. Then - focused on the issues of defining cryptocurrencies in the criminal law doctrine, as well as in legal acts that apply to the issue of virtual currency. The study also contains considerations regarding the possibility of including crypto-currencies in the generic object of crimes penalized in particular chapters of the Polish Penal Code of 1997. The aim of the study is not to identify specific crimes whose cryptocurrencies may be the subject, but to show the issues related to determining what cryptocurrencies are and with which types of crimes they may be related to, as well as emphasizing the problem of the lack of definition of cryptocurrencies in Polish criminal law and the consequences of this lack for the possibility of proper application of the provisions with regard to cryptocurrencies. Several solutions to the abovementioned problems have also been proposed.