From digital mining to market prices: An empirical analysis of the relationship between energy consumption and price dynamics of Bitcoin and Ether

Paper Details

Authors: Sezal L.

DOI: 10.18559/ebr.2026.1.2793

Journal: Economics and Business Review

Year: 2026

Publisher: Sciendo

Document Type: Article

Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access

Cited by: 0

Abstract

This study compares the relationships between Bitcoin and Ethereum’s energy consumption and price dynamics. Using daily frequency data, Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF), Phillips–Perron (PP), ARDL cointegration tests, and Toda–Yamamoto causality analysis were applied to evaluate the effects of cryptocurrency markets on energy demand from both short-term and long-term perspectives. The results indicate that there is a long-term cointegration relationship between energy consumption and prices for Bitcoin, and also unidirectional causality from prices to energy consumption. In contrast, ARDL boundary test results for Ethereum revealed no long-term relationship, and causality analysis also failed to detect any directional causality between price and energy consumption. This indicates that with Ethereum’s transition to a Proof-of-Stake mechanism, energy consumption has become independent of price movements. The findings reveal that the effects of crypto-currency markets on the energy economy vary according to technology-specific structural characteristics. © 2026 Levent Sezal, published by Poznan University of Economics and Business.

Keywords

Bitcoin; cryptocurrency markets; digital mining; energy consumption; energy economy; Ethereum

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