The determinants of trust and perceived risk on bitcoin users

One of the possible determinants of the intention to use bitcoin may be the trust of users because in the short time of validity of the cryptocurrency has proven to be a real option against fiat money. In this regard it should be added that few studies consider trust as a determinant of the use of Bitcoin; therefore, the purpose of this research is to know what are the factors on which trust is based and to know to what extent the perceived risk has a negative connotation on the use of cryptocurrency. To accomplish this, a model is integrated and is analyzed under the methodology of structural equations by partial least squares (PLS-SEM), applied to a sample of 174 bitcoin users. The evaluation of the seven theoretical hypotheses indicates that the key elements of trust are structural guarantees and familiarity since they determine the intention of use and this, in turn, the actual use; unlike calculative-based trust and situational normality, which are not very significant. The perceived risk was shown to have little relation to the intended use. Therefore, Bitcoin-related service providers should focus on generating trust situations for users based on security and regulations and creating environments that generate familiarity.