Reddit users already in crypto are drawn in by the value they see; the risk they perceive barely registers

Retail investors drive much of cryptocurrency's adoption, yet the perceived value and perceived risk behind their decisions have not been examined closely. This study addresses that gap.

A survey posted in a cryptocurrency community on Reddit in October–November 2022 drew 1,444 responses, screened to 200 qualified, non-duplicate participants (51.5% women; 72.5% aged 25–44; 70% holding Bitcoin). It measured perceived value, perceived risk and acceptance of cryptocurrency investment, analysed with structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with gender, age, education, income and investing experience as control variables.

• Perceived value has a clear positive effect on acceptance of cryptocurrency investment (t = 9.58), and a large one (f² = 0.55); the model explains 54.4% of acceptance.
• Perceived risk has no significant effect (t = 1.28, p = 0.20), so that hypothesis was not supported. The authors suggest the sample tolerates risk more than most and that perceived value may drown risk out, unlike several earlier studies in which risk held people back.
• Of the five demographic variables, only education matters (p = 0.024): people with more schooling accept the investment more readily. Gender, age, income and investing experience have no effect.
• Most respondents rated their own crypto knowledge as only “a little” (37%) to “moderate” (35.5%); just 2.5% called themselves experts.

For anyone communicating about finance, the finding says that with people already in the crypto market, warning about risk on its own barely changes the decision, because what drives it is the value they see. If people are to invest with their eyes open, risk has to be discussed in the same language as value. And since education is the one variable that mattered, the authors propose investing in financial literacy, in curricula and in the online communities where these people actually are.