Are the Young Investors Ready for Cryptocurrency Investments in Malaysia?

Abstract

Cryptocurrency or the virtual currency is the latest development in investment. It is a medium to exchange goods and services for virtual payments, an alternative diversification tool for investors and it features an attractive store of value for wealth creation. There was an attempt to urge the Malaysian authority to legalise cryptocurrency recently in order to attract the youth’s involvement in it. Even though there was an overwhelming interest detected among the country’s young investors, these groups have held back their interest due to the fear of the cryptocurrency’s unknown and vague territories. To date, cryptocurrency studies involving developing countries like Malaysia are still lacking as most past studies were conducted in developed countries. This research is undertaken to examine the interest and awareness of private undergraduate students on cryptocurrency’s potentials as virtual money and wealth creation. Based on the analysis conducted, about more than half of the potential investors admitted that they had little knowledge of the virtual currency despite the high probability of them showing interests to make cryptocurrency investments once they graduated or started working. These potential investors also believe that cryptocurrency investments help to improve the effectiveness, profitability and the value of their monetary investments. The contribution of this quantitative research lies in the youngsters’ perceptions of their perceived value and perceived risk (Consumer Behaviour Theory) towards their intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Apart from educating the youth about the virtual currency, this research seeks more regulators’ attentions in managing cryptocurrency developments and its transparency in Malaysia

Keywords

• Cryptocurrency
• Bitcoin
• Investment
• Behavioural intention
• Readiness

References

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