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An empirical study on the commercial adoption of digital currencies

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Abstract

Digital currencies are rapidly evolving Internet currencies that have been increasingly attracting academic, governmental, banking, and business interest. This paper aims to present the commercial perspective towards the adoption of digital currencies as a means of daily transactions. Considering digital currencies as a pioneering technological innovation, this study proposes a research model that combines the innovation decision process model with the technology acceptance model, adding the construct of perceived security in order to investigate the factors that affect the actual use of digital currencies. The collected data from 254 respondents, derived from an online questionnaire-based survey addressed to commercial users, were further analyzed by using structural equation modeling. The findings of this research have significant implications for academics by bridging the gap in the literature about the factors affecting digital currencies’ commercial adoption and for practitioners concerning decision-making on their adoption and use. More specifically, this study stresses the role of perceived security and the fact that managers need to build their policies regarding transactions in digital currencies on the basis of security. Perceived usefulness was also found to be a significant factor, meaning that commercial users should be aware of the advantages of digital currencies regarding businesses. Moreover, compatibility with existing values and practices affects indirectly the actual use of digital currencies, implying that managers need to perceive that the use of digital currencies should be compatible with existing practices.

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Notes

  1. According to the website Bitcoin.org, the term Bitcoin with capital “B” is used when describing the concept of Bitcoin or the entire network itself, while the term Bitcoin with lower-case “b” is used to describe Bitcoin as a unit of transaction (https://Bitcoin.org/en/vocabulary#bit).

  2. Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum are the top three cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization (CoinMarketCap 2019).

  3. https://Bitcointalk.org/.

  4. http://edcab.eu/.

  5. http://forums.pureoverclock.com/forum.php.

  6. http://forum.diginomics.com/.

  7. In the 2nd section of the questionnaire, the respondents had to choose between two alternative cases: the case that the company which they represented had adopted the digital currencies as a means of transaction and the case that it had not. Depending on their choice, the respondents were asked to complete a different set of questions in the same section of the questionnaire. Sections 1, 3 and 4 of the questionnaire were common for all the respondents.

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  1. University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Str., 54636, Thessaloníki, Greece

    Ioanna Roussou, Emmanouil Stiakakis & Angelo Sifaleras

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  1. Ioanna Roussou
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Correspondence to Emmanouil Stiakakis.

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Appendix

Appendix

Description of the items/variables for each construct used in SEM

Construct

Item/variable

Description

Question of the survey

Perceived ease of use

v58

Ease of use

13. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, which were the main reasons for adopting digital currencies?

v66

Speed of transactions

13. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, which were the main reasons for adopting digital currencies?

v176

Perceived ease of use

25. How easy do you think the use of digital currency is?

Perceived usefulness

v130

Ignorance about its further utilization

19. In case your company has NOT adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, to what extent did the following reasons affect your company’s decision?

v147

Not widespread to the general public

20. In case your company has NOT adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, specifically which features of digital currency affected your company’s decision?

v178

Future of digital currency regarding its acceptance and use

27. In your opinion, what will the future of digital currency be, regarding its acceptance and use?

v179

Future of digital currency as a means of transaction

28. What do you think the future of digital currency as a means of transaction will be?

Perceived security

v91

Money loss due to price instability

15. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, to what extent have the following problems arisen?

v174

Trust of digital currency as an effective means of transaction

23. To what extent do you trust digital currency as an effective means of transaction?

v187

Rate stabilization between digital and traditional currency

29. In what ways do you think the use of digital currency could be more widespread?

v195

Providing greater security from cyber attacks

30. Which of the following factors do you think that the creators of digital currency should take into account in order to establish it as a means of electronic payment?

Prior conditions

v46

Innovativeness

11. When your company is informed about a relevant technological innovation, how does it usually act?

v56

Control avoidance by central organizations

13. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, which were the main reasons for adopting digital currencies?

v59

Freedom in payments

13. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, which were the main reasons for adopting digital currencies?

v64

Low cost of transactions

13. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, which were the main reasons for adopting digital currencies?

Compatibility

v83

Compatibility issues with some of the company’s systems

15. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, to what extent have the following problems arisen?

v87

Governmental restrictions

15. In case your company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction, to what extent have the following problems arisen?

v190

Decreasing connection with computer science (cryptography, etc.)

30. Which of the following factors do you think that the creators of digital currency should take into account in order to establish it as a means of electronic payment?

v194

Providing digital currency services through banks

30. Which of the following factors do you think that the creators of digital currency should take into account in order to establish it as a means of electronic payment?

Actual Digital Currency Use

v199

Adoption or not of digital currency as a means of transaction

Please select one of the following:

 The company has adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction

 The company has NOT adopted digital currencies as a means of transaction

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Roussou, I., Stiakakis, E. & Sifaleras, A. An empirical study on the commercial adoption of digital currencies. Inf Syst E-Bus Manage 17, 223–259 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-019-00426-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-019-00426-7

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