Title: Bitcoin as an alternative digital currency: exploring the publics' perception vs. experts

Authors: Spyros Papathanasiou; Nikolaos Papamatthaiou; Dimitrios P. Balios

Addresses: Department of Economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR, 105 59, Athens, Greece ' EPAS OAED, GR, 35131, Lamia, Greece ' Department of Economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Gr, 105 59, Athens, Greece

Abstract: This paper attempts to find out if the view of the public coincides with the opinion of the experts on the Bitcoin's subject and to determine if is information can be implemented in order to establish a use of Bitcoin in our everyday lives. During the first stage of this research, methods and rules of analysis such as descriptive statistics and tables and charts were used. Firstly, a questionnaire was used and secondly, the answers were gathered and classified according to the participants' choices. During the second stage, the data was collected with the use of random sampling, while various techniques, such as simple and multiple regressions were utilised for analysing the results. The conclusion is that the public perceives Bitcoin differently than the experts do. Individuals believe that Bitcoin is mainly a means of transactions/payments, contrary to the experts' opinion, which is that it is foremost an investment asset.

Keywords: Bitcoin; cryptocurrencies; publics' perception; quantitative data collection approach; alternative investments.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFERM.2019.101296

International Journal of Financial Engineering and Risk Management, 2019 Vol.3 No.2, pp.146 - 171

Received: 02 Oct 2018
Accepted: 12 Mar 2019
Published online: 30 Jul 2019 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article