Residents raise red flags as cryptocurrency facilities bring harmful practices into communities: 'That place is a death trap'

Cryptocurrency has gotten a lot of attention in recent years after making fortunes for some early adopters.

Unfortunately, the instability of these currencies means that replicating those early successes is no easy task, and it comes at a massive cost to local residents and the planet. Nowhere is that more keenly felt than in Texas, America's current crypto mining capital, as the Texas Observer reported.

What is crypto mining?

Crypto mining uses computer servers to guess long strings of data, which can win the owners cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Although technically possible to do on a home computer, today's cryptocurrency miners operate massive data centers to maximize their computing power and thus their earnings.

In Texas, there are roughly 40 mines in operation, compared with a total of about 24 in the rest of America, according to the Texas Observer. Crypto miners moved there in search of cheap electricity and few regulations after China outlawed crypto mining in 2021.

Why is crypto mining a problem?

Unfortunately, the huge amount of electricity that crypto miners are so hungry for costs Texas residents quite a lot. The state's electrical grid simply isn't up to the challenge.

"Texas' grid is still very fragile. The improvements made so far by the state are inadequate for what's coming," said Corsicana resident John Blewitt, per the Texas Observer. "[The crypto industry isn't] interested in investing in alternative energy. They want a lot of energy, a lot of electricity, right now, which means burning fossil fuels. The industry creates an enormous carbon footprint. Climate change is real."

The Observer reported that at least one resident had seen a crypto mine guzzling power while Houston was without electricity due to Hurricane Beryl.

That demand for power drives up costs and potentially causes blackouts. And it isn't the only problem.

Crypto mining also uses a huge amount of water to cool the servers. In a dry state like Texas, which easily experiences drought, residents cringe at seeing so much of the local water supply wasted on computers.

Furthermore, residents unlucky enough to be close to many of the centers report that they make a disruptive and even unbelievable amount of noise, per the Observer. Residents complain of headaches, vertigo, hearing loss, sleep disruptions, and a range of other ailments that they attribute to the sound, which continues all day and is sometimes even louder at night. 

How residents are responding to crypto mining

Unfortunately, President Trump and other politicians support crypto mining. However, activists like Jackie Sawicky have started organizations like the Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining to protest the construction and expansion of crypto mining centers and to bring legal challenges against them.

Whistleblowing individuals within the companies, like electrician Chris Jones, have also spoken out against the companies' violations.

"That place is a death trap. I'm surprised someone has not got killed up there yet," Jones told the Observer, referring to a crypto mining facility in Navarro County operated by Riot. "It's the most dangerous place I ever worked, and I used to work in coal mines."

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