Clean water resources and ecological footprint in the global context: Critical concern from cryptocurrency

Abstract

The global growth of bitcoin has sparked debate about whether bitcoin has a positive or negative impact on water management and the ecological footprint. This study examines the impacts of bitcoin on clean water management and ecological footprint in 48 selected countries during the period from 2014 to 2023. Ecological footprint calculated as total ecological footprint per capita, clean water calculated as people using safely managed drinking water are dependent variables; cryptocurrency through bitcoin calculated as average weekly trading volume is an independent variable. By using GMM estimator, our research found that bitcoin has a negative effect on clean water management and increases ecological footprint. Moreover, governance index and global innovation index are investigated to mitigate the adverse impact of bitcoin on clean water resources and ecological footprint. Strikingly, in high income countries, bitcoin is utilized more effectively than that in low income countries. These findings are expected to contribute to the development of bitcoin, clean water management, and ecological footprint so that bitcoin is promoted and people in these countries could have better access to clean water. In addition, it is recommended that it is important to invest in governance and innovation in each country.