Intention towards blockchain implementation in Waqf project development through UTAUT and perceived risk theory

This study examines how blockchain technology, guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Theory of Perceived Risk (TPR), can address critical challenges in Waqf project development. Although Waqf plays a vital role in Islamic social finance by funding education, healthcare, and religious services, its management is often constrained by limited funding, inefficiency, poor transparency, and low stakeholder trust. Concerns over security, potential financial loss, privacy, and functional reliability further hinder its effectiveness. Blockchain offers a potential solution by enhancing trust, improving security, increasing transparency, and boosting operational efficiency. Accordingly, this research aims to: (1) analyse how expectation factors—performance, effort, social influence, and facilitating conditions— influence the intention to adopt blockchain; (2) assess how perceived risks—security, financial, privacy, and functional—affect adoption intention; (3) evaluate trust as a mediator between these factors and adoption intention; and (4) examine knowledge as a moderator between trust and adoption intention in the Malaysian Waqf context. Despite growing interest in blockchain for financial and philanthropic applications, there is a lack of empirical evidence on its adoption in Malaysian Waqf institutions, especially concerning how trust and perceived risks influence stakeholders’ intentions. A quantitative approach using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analyzes data collected from Waqf practitioners across Malaysia's State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) as the sample is the staff that involve with Waqf activities.