Abstract:
Cryptocurrencies have received lots of attention. Speculating about their worth is increasing and very popular matter in today’s society. This research is centered around the adoption of cryptocurrency as speculative investment in the Netherlands. It is not clear yet why cryptocurrencies are adopted as speculative investment by users in the Netherlands. This research used Diffusion of Innovations Theory as a basis to determine the factors that possibly could influence the adoption of cryptocurrencies as speculative investment by users in the Netherlands. The five perceived innovation characteristics were chosen as possible influencing factors: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Adoption was measured in form of actual usage behaviour using self-reported measurement scales. From all five perceived innovation characteristics only trialability has significant influence on the actual usage behaviour users who use of cryptocurrencies as speculative investment in the Netherlands. Relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, and observability did not have any significant influence on the adoption of cryptocurrencies as speculative investment by users in the Netherlands.