A study on the development of a cryptocurrency literacy scale

A valid and reliable scale was developed to measure the cryptocurrency literacy levels of individuals who invest in cryptocurrencies. The topic was chosen due to the increasing influence of cryptocurrencies in rapidly digitalizing financial systems and the need to assess individuals' knowledge in this area. Since this is a scale development study, the research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a 58-item draft scale was created with input from field experts. The survey was administered to 146 participants. Analyses such as skewness-kurtosis, validity, and reliability tests were performed. Based on these analyses, outlier items were identified and removed, resulting in a refined scale consisting of 37 items. In the second phase, 338 individuals participated in the study. After excluding those who selected options other than "undecided" on control questions, the analysis proceeded with 312 valid responses. As a result, five factors were identified in the cryptocurrency literacy scale: basic knowledge of cryptocurrencies, perceived trust in cryptocurrencies, conceptual technical knowledge, social influence on investment decisions, and analytical investment awareness. In this phase, ANOVA and correlation analyses were conducted. According to the gender variable, no significant difference was found in basic cryptocurrency knowledge. However, significant and higher average scores were observed among males in perceived trust, technical knowledge, social influence, and analytical awareness. Regarding education level, it was observed that perceived trust in cryptocurrencies decreased as education level increased. Correlation analysis showed a strong relationship between basic and technical knowledge, while analytical investment awareness was negatively affected by social influence.