ABSTRACT

Cryptocurrency provides a means for consumers to pay merchants for goods and services without the need of banking institutions.  Leveraging the current disruptive innovation theory, I set out to understand (a) if cryptocurrency is a disruptive innovation, (b) how might the disruptive innovation theory predict the trajectory for cryptocurrency adoption, (c) will the complexity of cryptocurrency impact the trajectory of cryptocurrency adoption and disruption, and (d) should the complexity of a disruption change the current disruptive innovation theory to help better predict radical product innovations like cryptocurrency.  I conclude that cryptocurrency has the potential to be a disruptive innovation, but has not yet disrupted the market. Also, I argue that the current disruptive innovation theory does provide a framework to evaluate cryptocurrency’s past events and current performance improvements to understand the trajectory, but the theory does not provide insights as to the timing of the disruption event. In addition, I offer understanding as to how the complexity of the cryptocurrency may slow or even stop its trajectory. Finally, I show how complexity may impact the trajectory and suggest future studies to conclude if the complexity variation should be added to the disruptive innovation theory.

​

DATE

December 2020

​

CITATION

Birdsall, N. L. (2020). Disruption Innovation Theory and Cryptocurrency. Doctoral Literature Review. Golden Gate University.