Abstract
In the decade following the introduction of blockchain distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies, adoption of the technology lags far behind its potential. Past research identifies knowledge-based trust and understanding as critical to the adoption of technological innovations, particularly in regard to individual willingness to use online financial instruments. Despite negative perceptions of technology identified as key barriers to individual adoption, to the best of our knowledge, little systematic research examines individual attitudes towards the use of blockchain technology or cryptocurrency. We utilize a survey experiment to examine how common discussion contexts surrounding cryptocurrencies influence openness to adoption in comparison to the US dollar. We find that an increased openness to cryptocurrency adoption is associated with messages reflecting (1) the independence of cryptocurrency from political or central bank management and (2) when information describing the security features of blockchain are included. This is consistent with prior research that the socio-technical complexity of a system requires process description in responses. A second important finding suggests that individuals most open to cryptocurrencies as a substitute for the dollar are those benefitting the least from the existing financial system.
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Notes
- 1.
Even asset backed currencies, for example adherence to a gold or other standard, require confidence in institutional transparence and enforcement of and maintenance of the codified standard. Recent currency crises, for example the 1997 Asian financial crisis, occurred in large part due to regulatory failures coupled with inadequate foreign reserve holdings. The crisis emerged as a lack of trust became widespread rather than as a function of fundamental adjustments in macro-economic structures.
- 2.
Future work examining predispositions to risk may also inform attitude formation surrounding blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
- 3.
Indeed, Japan’s community currency programs were initiated in an effort to stimulate expanded social capital and civic engagement. While similar efforts have occurred in the UK and United States, the expansive nature and investment in community currencies is substantially more established in Japan (Izumi, 2002).
- 4.
While a null (no message) treatment group is commonly employed as a baseline control group in experimental designs, different and relevant information could be gleaned by using a different control category. For example, a full message, using all of the information could be used as the control category. This could help understand how a fully engaged message would compare to some of the more narrowly targeted arguments. One limitation of using text in a survey as the treatments, as we do, is that messages should be short in length to avoid discontinuation of participation in the survey instrument. This could be an area for future research
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Johnson, K., Krueger, B.S. (2021). Who Supports Using Cryptocurrencies and Why Public Education About Blockchain Technology Matters?. In: Reddick, C.G., Rodríguez-Bolívar, M.P., Scholl, H.J. (eds) Blockchain and the Public Sector. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55746-1_6
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