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

Levent Sezal

doi:10.18559/ebr.2026.1.2793

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

Economics and Business Review

Volume 12 (2026): Issue 1 (April 2026)

By: Levent Sezal

Open Access

|Apr 2026

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.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2026.1.2793 | Journal eISSN: 2450-0097 | Journal ISSN: 2392-1641

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Language: English

Page range: 159 - 182

Submitted on: Nov 22, 2025

Accepted on: Jan 15, 2026

Published on: Apr 10, 2026

Published by: Poznań University of Economics and Business Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

Bitcoin,

Ethereum,

energy consumption,

cryptocurrency markets,

digital mining,

energy economy

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Political economics,

Political economics, other,

Finance,

Mathematics and statistics for economists,

Econometrics

© 2026 Levent Sezal, published by Poznań University of Economics and Business Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 12 (2026): Issue 1 (April 2026)