Identifying Multiple Peer Influences on Smart Contract Adoption in Blockchain User Network

Smart contract brings more versatile functions in blockchain technology. However, its adoption rate is not as high as expected. Currently, there is not thorough study addressing the issue. To fill such gap, we propose to use social influence to explain smart contract adoption in blockchain user network. We explore whether and how different types of social influences, including centrality, direct peer adoption, and indirect peer adoption simultaneously affect an individual's adoption decision of smart contracts. Our hypotheses are examined in the context of CryptoKitties adoption in the Ethereum network using the public dataset of Ethereum including 350 million transactions from over 20 million distinct accounts. The results show that the adoption of the software is positively affected by degree centrality and direct peer adoption and is negatively affected by indirect peer adoption. The results provide strong evidence of social influence on smart contract adoption through various mechanisms