The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects of Bitcoin

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects of Bitcoin, the first and largest cryptocurrency. The importance and size of institutional ESG investing has grown substantially over recent years and, concurrently, interest and investment by large institutions into Bitcoin. Therefore, there appears to be a paradox of large institutions wanting to invest in ESG friendly products, whilst at the same time diversifying their portfolios and beginning to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. We examine each aspect of ESG in turn for Bitcoin, explaining how Bitcoin stacks up in terms of each element of E, S, and G and provide recommendations for future research in the space of ESG and cryptocurrencies.