Recently, the invention of blockchain technology and the introduction of cryptocurrency in the financial market has brought a new era worldwide. Previous research finds that the cryptocurrency market is riskier and more speculative than the stock market because of its high volatility. Using the 2018 and 2021 waves of the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) Investor Survey dataset, this study investigates the relationship between investors' risky behavior and cryptocurrency investment. The current study uses margin loans and margin calls to measure risky behavior. A margin loan is risky since it needs to be repaid to the broker regardless of whether the investment has a gain or loss. The broker issues a margin call when the value of the investor's margin account falls below the investor's required amount. Consistent with the hypothesis, table 3 shows that the relationship between margin loans and cryptocurrency investment is positive and statistically significant. Specifically, an individual with a margin loan will have a 0.17 higher probability of having a cryptocurrency investment than an individual with no margin loan. Table 4 result shows that an individual with a margin call has a 0.23 higher probability of investing in cryptocurrency than an individual without a margin call.

Accepted Oral Presentation