Determinants of individual investors’ decisions to invest in digital assets: Evidence from Vietnam

The rapid digitalization of financial markets has given rise to digital assets, yet individual investors' decision-making processes in emerging economies remain poorly understood. This study investigates the determinants influencing individual investors' intention to invest in digital assets (IIA) in Vietnam. Drawing upon the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we propose an integrated model incorporating psychological, social, and technological constructs. Using a cross-sectional survey of 719 Vietnamese investors and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), we find that Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC; β = 0.487, p < 0.001) is the strongest predictor of IIA, followed by Attitude (ATT; β = 0.344, p < 0.001) and Subjective Norms (SN; β = 0.313, p < 0.001). Unexpectedly, Perceived Risk (PR) positively influences IIA (β = 0.146, p < 0.001), suggesting risk-seeking behavior in this context, while Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) has a negative effect (β = −0.113, p = 0.009), indicating that greater knowledge may increase caution. Mediation analyses reveal that PR and Financial Risk Tolerance (FRT) play critical partial mediating roles. The model explains 58.8% of the variance in IIA and demonstrates robust predictive validity (Q 2 _predict >0). The study theoretically extends TPB/TAM to the digital asset context and practically offers insights for regulators, fintech platforms, and educators. We acknowledge the model's relatively simple structure and limited contextual scope; future research should integrate more dynamic, real-time data and explore the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) for more nuanced behavioral analysis.