Navigating the Cryptocurrency Landscape: Exploring Adoption Challenges and Opportunities

This study examines the factors influencing consumers’ intentions to adopt cryptocurrency as a payment method in Bahrain whilst moderating for subjective norms. The theoretical framework used in this study was the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. This study extends this model with additional constructs, including attitude, perceived trust, perceived risk and perceived security, to capture the unique dynamics of cryptocurrency adoption. The research employs a quantitative approach using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), to analyze data collected from 314 respondents through an online survey. The results show that perceived usefulness, social influence, facilitating conditions, attitude, and perceived security positively influences consumers intentions to adopt cryptocurrency in Bahrain. On the other hand, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, and perceived trust were found to have no statistically significant effect on the intention to adopt cryptocurrency. This study found that subjective norms positively moderates the relationship between perceived security and intentions to adopt. This result highlights the importance of security perceptions and social validation on cryptocurrency adoption in Bahrain. This paper offers several recommendations to policymakers, cryptocurrency exchanges, and merchants to encourage wider adoption of cryptocurrency in Bahrain. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on technology adoption and more specifically cryptocurrency adoption, by examining how technology adoption constructs interact with subjective norms. By doing so, this study provides deeper insight into the factors influencing intentions to adopt cryptocurrency.