Sustaining Cryptocurrency Investment: Does the Moderating Effect of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) Matter? Empirical Evidence

Theoretical Framework: Cryptocurrencies have a substantial economic and social impact to investors’ decision-making. This paper aims to investigate critical success factors (CSFs) from behavioural aspects and their moderating effect on cryptocurrency investment among working adults in Malaysia. Method: A quantitative survey questionnaire approach was implemented to gather data from 533 working adults who resided in Malaysia. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) path analysis was also used to examine the impact of critical success factors of cryptocurrency investment. Results and Discussion: Key findings from this study reveal that usage competency, societal influence, the perceived threat of utilisation, and technology complexity are critical success factors that would either encourage or hinder the investment of cryptocurrency. Among them, working adults’ societal influence is empirically the key critical success factor in sustaining cryptocurrency investment, followed by adults’ usage competency and technology complexity. Research Implications: This paper notes that working adults tend to utilise a great substantial of their competency to invest in cryptocurrency when the technology is highly complex. Besides, when the perceived threat of the utilisation is great, working adults greatly utilise societal influence to mitigate the threat of cryptocurrency investment. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the understanding of the moderating effect of technology complexity and investors’ perceived threat of utilisation in the investment of cryptocurrency. It also offers an insight into the financial behaviour of working adults, as they are investors themselves, in the context of emerging digital finance while offering insightful recommendations to stakeholders in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.