Understanding the diffusion and adoption of Bitcoin transaction services: The integrated approach

•A user acceptance model of bitcoin transaction services is proposed.•Four user-oriented theories are employed to propose the model.•Both indirect and direct motivations are explored and validated. This study proposes a comprehensive user acceptance model for Bitcoin transaction services, while also statistically presenting how four user-oriented theories (innovation diffusion theory, the benefit-risk concept, the theory of planned behavior, and transaction cost theory) contribute to the understanding of user intent regarding the use of these services. Results from more than 1300 samples suggest that both perceived benefits and service compatibility play notable roles in determining behavioral intent, while perceived risk, cost, and complexity were found to have no significant impact on user adoption. Moreover, both the potential trialability and observability of the services were investigated as weak antecedents of user adoption. On the basis of these results, the resulting managerial and theoretical implications are examined, albeit with notable limitations.