Cryptocurrency as an investment or speculation: a bibliometric review study

Abstract

PurposeThe study was done to review the existing literature available on the theme using a popular technique known as a bibliometric review. The purpose was to explore important bibliometric trends such as geographical distribution of research; the most relevant countries and institutions and important collaboration networks, frequently published authors, the most relevant topics/research domains and relationships among these, average citations or per year, the most relevant sources, top authors’ production, authors’ impact by H index and the progression of important keywords over a period of time.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzed literature published in the English language from 2012 onwards that used the words “cryptocurrency”, “Ethereum” “Bitcoin” along with “investment/s” or “speculation/s” in the Title/ABS/KEY. A specialized approach was followed to retrieve and analyze focused research. The data for analysis was extracted from the Scopus database and was analyzed using Biblioshiny and VOSViewer.FindingsThe study found that the countries such as the UK, Australia, China and the USA have special relevance in terms of the number of citations and collaboration networks. Cryptocurrency/Cryptocurrencies, bitcoin have been the base themes along with other crucial issues such as volatility, hedging, COVID-19 pandemic, Ethereum, blockchain, co-integration, portfolio diversification/optimization, spillover, safe haven, investor attention, gold, etc. There is a lot of interdisciplinary research on the theme.Originality/valueThe current study used a concentrated approach to study the bibliometric literature about the financial implications of cryptocurrency as an asset class and not prominently its technological or legal aspects.