The purpose of the article is to reveal the evolution of things exchange from its emergence described as a simple model to formation of the commodity-money circulation with its subsequent transformation into an innovative state tending to the digital currency. The objective of the study is to identify the specifics of the double exchange of things model. In it, the needs of one individual are satisfied by the means of ensuring them that are in the possession of another. With the money’s advent, the alienation of one’s product and the appropriation of someone else’s in exchange for it is divided in space and time. This introduces fundamental changes in the simple exchange model. The circulation process does not end like a direct exchange of products. Money does not leave the sphere of circulation. They are deposited at those points in the circulation process that are purified by this or that commodity. The research methodology proceeds from the statements that, firstly, the identical is different, and the difference is manifested in the identity; secondly, in the thing being exchanged there is a hidden contradiction between its subjective assessment for oneself and for the other, and both sides value other people’s things higher than their own. The results obtained reveal the evolution of money towards digital currency as an objective social phenomenon. Their manifestation in different historical periods is compared – random exchange, commodity-money circulation, depreciation of money, the ratio of their supply and demand, the appearance of fiat money, and digital currency – their advantages and disadvantages are revealed.
