Profiling Turkish Cryptocurrency Owners: Payment Users, Crypto Investors and Crypto Traders

Abstract

With ownership estimates of up to 25%, Turkey is at the forefront of cryptocurrency adoption, rendering it an interesting example to study the proclaimed use cases of cryptocurrencies. Using exploratory factor analysis based on a sample of 715 Turkish cryptocurrency owners, we identified 3 different owner groups and their underlying motives. The first group (payment users) looks at cryptocurrency as an option for payments, thereby disregarding its speculative element, while the second group (crypto investors) can best be described as experienced investors holding cryptocurrency as part of their investment strategy. The third group (crypto traders) consists of risk-tolerant traders. Further analyses show that groups not only differentiate by demographics, income and education, but also by factors such as ideology, purchase intention and the use of domestic or foreign exchanges. The results contribute to the understanding of Turkish cryptocurrency owners, their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and can be incorporated into the pending regulatory processes in the country. The findings suggest that cryptocurrencies have outgrown the use case of mere speculation in Turkey. Those in the group of Turkish payment users are identified as potential lead users whose current needs may represent common needs for crypto users in similar markets in the future. These findings motivate further research on the diffusion and usage patterns of cryptocurrency in emerging markets and innovation in general in the context of lead markets.