Bitcoin - Asset or Currency? Revealing Users' Hidden Intentions

ECIS 2014 (Tel Aviv)

14 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2014 Last revised: 22 May 2015

See all articles by Florian Glaser

Florian Glaser

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Kai Zimmermann

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Martin Haferkorn

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration; European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

Moritz Christian Weber

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Michael Siering

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Date Written: April 15, 2014

Abstract

Digital currencies are a globally spreading phenomenon that is frequently and also prominently addressed by media, venture capitalists, financial and governmental institutions alike. As exchange prices for Bitcoin have reached multiple peaks within 2013, we pose a prevailing and yet academically unaddressed question: What are users' intentions when changing their domestic into a digital currency? In particular, this paper aims at giving empirical insights on whether users’ interest regarding digital currencies is driven by its appeal as an asset or as a currency. Based on our evaluation, we find strong indications that especially uninformed users approaching digital currencies are not primarily interested in an alternative transaction system but seek to participate in an alternative investment vehicle.

Keywords: Bitcoin, Decision Making in Electronic Markets, Digital Currency, Investor Behavior, Virtual Currency

JEL Classification: G00, G10, G11

Suggested Citation

Glaser, Florian and Glaser, Florian and Zimmermann, Kai and Haferkorn, Martin and Haferkorn, Martin and Weber, Moritz Christian and Siering, Michael, Bitcoin - Asset or Currency? Revealing Users' Hidden Intentions (April 15, 2014). ECIS 2014 (Tel Aviv), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2425247

Florian Glaser (Contact Author)

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology ( email )

Kaiserstraße 12
Karlsruhe, Baden Württemberg 76131
Germany

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 4
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

Kai Zimmermann

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Grueneburgplatz 1
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

Martin Haferkorn

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 4
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ( email )

201-203 Rue de Bercy
​Paris, 75012
France

Moritz Christian Weber

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Grueneburgplatz 1
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

Michael Siering

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Grueneburgplatz 1
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

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