The hills are alive with the sounds of crypto, and that’s a problem
When crypto mining opponents in other states get discouraged, Cyndie Roberson often sends them a video clip of the Georgia House Banks and Banking Committee’s hearing last year on the Blockchain Basics Act. It shows, she says, that if they’re given the right information, lawmakers will reject efforts to pave the way for crypto mining in their states.
A retired registered nurse and vice president at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Roberson became an anti-crypto after she and her husband bought a cabin in Cherokee County, N.C. They’d planned it to be their retirement dream home, but the noise from a crypto mining operation, which began operations nearby, was so loud and constant that they sold out within months.
Roberson had, in the meantime, become part of a growing local movement against the crypto mining operations that had sprung up in the area, and today sits on the board of the National Coalition Against Crypto Mining. Fourteen contiguous counties, nine in North Carolina and five in Georgia, have passed restrictions or complete bans on crypto mining, including Cherokee County.
Crypto or blockchain mining takes place in data centers that are similar to the traditional variety, but gobble up more power and require big, loud high-speed fans to cool. This is only one of many issues involving crypto that will be debated over the next several years, but noise can be a very effective flashpoint, as a chorus of gas-powered leaf blowers on a Saturday morning will attest.
Opposition on several fronts defeated the Blockchain Basics Act, which would have prohibited local governments from regulating crypto operations, given tax advantages and otherwise cleared the way for the expansion of crypto. It’s certain that many elements of the bill will be back soon. A separate Senate bill was introduced at the end of this year’s session, which would allow the state to invest in Bitcoin and, in various other ways, clear the path for crypto.
“To stay competitive, we need to modernize our regulatory approach. That means updating laws to reflect the realities of today’s economy, providing legal clarity for emerging technologies and holding bad actors accountable without penalizing responsible builders,” Tony Erwin, principal consultant at Skyrocket Financial Solutions, wrote in a recent issue of James magazine.
Blockchain Basics bills, which are also called Right to Mine bills, have been introduced around the country. They differ in various ways, but a pivotal issue that unites all of them is that of state versus local authority over the huge facilities that are the basis for the planned crypto economy.
It’s interesting that a block of seven mostly Southern states — Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Missouri — have rejected Right to Mine bills. That may have something to do with Arkansas, which passed a Right to Mine bill in 2023 and faced a backlash so sharp that the author of the bill quickly moved for more restrictive legislation. It could also indicate the states where crypto mining operations have been most active.
The “bad actors” Erwin referred to have often been identified as Chinese-owned crypto mining companies, which have been relocating in the United States since 2021, when the Chinese government banned cryptocurrencies. The Chinese had several reasons for doing this, including the enormous electrical demands, which hindered their climate goals and the vulnerability of the system to fraud. But out in the Chinese countryside, noise also ranked as a major concern.
Crypto proponents say that better-designed plants with more shielding over the thousands of fans that operate 24/7 will solve this problem, but until they replace the noisemakers, crypto has a nuisance problem.
It’s quite loud, by most descriptions, but it’s undistinguished by any highs or lows. It’s just a constant, monotonous roar, and at its frequency level, it carries quite a distance. Roberson says that she has seen people at meetings weep, describing the effects on them.
We used to speak colloquially about the smell of money. The sound of crypto may soon have its own special connotation.
