The effect of virtual currencies (digital currencies) on the sense of economic security of the citizens in Mazandaran province

Economic security is one of the characteristics of countries' development. Endangering economic security causes damage to other security areas (social security, political security, etc). One of the factors threatening economic security is virtual currencies, which are an innovative phenomenon. Therefore, this research deals with "the effect of virtual (digital) currencies on the sense of economic security of the Mazandaran citizens".

This work is quantitative and the data was obtained through a survey approach. To collect the information, a researcher-made questionnaire tool is employed, as well as a multi-stage cluster sampling strategy according to the sample size. The statistical society is made by all the citizens living in Mazandaran province who use virtual currencies and have great knowledge about them. In addition, Cochran formula is operated to evaluate the sample size. The number of samples was 384, but for a better factor of safety, the final number of samples is 400. The data acquired from the distribution and collection of questionnaires was analyzed via "SPSS" software and descriptive and inferential statistics.

The findings of this research indicate that the effect of the independent variable of virtual currencies on the sense of economic security is significant. Also, it can demonstrate 22.2% of the changes of the mentioned dependent variable. The beta coefficient implies that the effect of the virtual currency variable on the sense of economic security is -0.461 and the influence direction is negative.

The sense of economic security of Mazandaran citizens is affected by virtual currencies. Even though virtual currencies are a positive technological phenomenon, they have a negative effect on the sense of economic security of citizens.