Explaining Variations in Cryptocurrency Ownership: A Cross-country Study

Abstract

This study investigates how cryptocurrency ownership varies across countries using a set of variables that reflect a country's overall economic circumstances and long-term outlook. Despite the nascent stage of the cryptocurrency market and the concomitant deficiency of the data on cryptocurrency, a multiple linear regression is fitted as an incipient step towards more advanced future studies. Our empirical findings show that cryptocurrency ownership is more likely to grow in a country with (1) a high human capital stock such as citizens' health and education and (2) a rich endowment of legal property rights. It was also inferred from the regression results that cryptocurrency could be an effective hedge against inflation to some extent.