Utilizing the ABC-X model of stress and coping (Hill, 1949) as a framework, the current study investigated the direct association between cryptocurrency participation and financial stress and explored if financial knowledge and financial anxiety as coping resources and perceptions mediated this relationship. The dataset comes from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). The path analysis was used to investigate the link between cryptocurrency participation, financial knowledge, financial anxiety, and financial stress. The findings suggest that cryptocurrency participation has a direct impact on an individual’s level of financial stress. The findings suggest that people use both subjective and objective financial knowledge as a coping resource to mitigate the level of financial anxiety they feel. The perception of the stressor together with subjective and objective financial knowledge influences an individual’s level of financial stress. The results also suggest that objective financial knowledge mediates the relationship between cryptocurrency participation and financial stress.

Accepted Oral Presentation