Impact of large-scale bitcoin mining on communities

Just saw a new video that sheds light on how industrial bitcoin mining affects society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_WDzPyoqU Marathon Digital Holdings has set up a massive BTC mining operation in Texas, ignoring the consequences for local communities. They're pumping out intense industrial noise that’s blasting into people's homes. Seriously, there's no way to escape 85 decibels of noise. That’s the legal cap in Texas, which already has pretty lenient regulations. OSHA states that if noise is constantly above 85 decibels at work, companies gotta provide hearing protection for their employees. But in Texas, this bitcoin mine can push over 100 decibels into homes with zero problems from the politicians. On top of that, they get sweet electricity deals while locals are stuck paying top dollar. And let's not forget, water is getting scarce too, and we know industrial bitcoin mining guzzles tons of water for cooling. If this was happening in your neighborhood, would you still be on board with bitcoin mining?

Yeah, you definitely can't live next to this.  If I were the people living next to Marathon, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do at the City Hall level, I'd put the house for sale. If I came next to your house, with loudspeakers, playing music loudly enough to be under the legal limit, would you still support the idea of loudspeakers? People who think "crypto money" buys politicians are for a serious wake up call on what fiat money is capable of.  Bitcoin mining does consume a lot of electricity, does produce a lot of noise, but it provides the world an alternative to a system that is responsible for most of genocide and poverty.  There's nothing as morally imperative as ending central banks, and bitcoin is the only way to do that.  People who wouldn't support bitcoin mining because of this, are completely blind and hypocrites, as they consequently show support for the alternative debt-slavery system that is responsible for a lot more evil.

It's easy to blame Bitcoin or Bitcoin mining. But the bigger issue is Texas have poor law and law enforcement. No sane people would buy house on that area without relative low price though.

If you are deaf and get a 20% discount it is a great place to live. So the real problem is no one is recruiting deaf buyers. <sarcasm to those that are literal. Back to cheap power cost vs high power cost. that mine provides a service to the power company as it shuts off when it is too hot and the power company is able to shunt the power to homes that need ac. as for water use that mine goes air cooled and I have evidence they use water cooling I do agree with one thing if it is the loud the owners of the company need to live in the homes so they can feel the sound.

Did anyone bother to read the introduction to that vid? Note the use of 'We went to' - as in they do not live there but rather go around looking for clickbait they can rant about. btw: That is actually a story that came out last year and has already been discussed here (and rightfully shortly died after a few days), the vid seems to just be a new rehash of it. Yes Mara should put in sound deflecting berms so the noise does not just go rolling over the plains to annoy folks. As Phil said, Texas has the farms to act as massive base loads to balance their equally massive wind/solar power production. Remember, Texas is NOT well connected to the rest of the US grid and in most weather a huge part of their power production would go unused because there is no way to export & sell it to other states meaning no incentive to expand it. With the mining farms the excess power is used and when hot weather arrives the mines throttle back so power can be used elsewhere in Texas for cooling needs. As for the OP saying No it doesn't and never has. In the past most mining farms were air cooled. With the newest ones using water cooling, it is a closed loop with the water going from cooling towers > pumps > miners > back to cooling towers being endlessly recycled. Once the cooling systems are filled very little water is further consumed. Hydro cooling is also far far quieter because there is not literally 10's of thousands of small high speed fans screaming away cooling off the miners.

Looks like the company behind this is quite popular. The recent news about them seems to focus more on how they increase the number of Bitcoins in their wallet, though, with little to no mention of their mining activity. If it's old news and the video is just a repeat of another story, I guess I can't blame them since that's how the YouTube game is played. A lot of content in social media seems to focus on rage-bait or emotional content in the last few years or so.

I did. I skimmed the video and it's not only clickbait, where they also frame the issue as if Bitcoin miner primarily responsible for all issues mentioned. Their mining pool have about 4-5% hashrate and they involve themselves in politics, so that's probably how you and other member hear about it.

Why Yeah dude, if your loudspeaker operation was supported by a huge industry and lobbying efforts and you were so hellbent to make my house worthless and my life hell over your profit, then yeah, I'd be very against it. You can't strip context over a silly example. Let's not be so blind sighted. I like bitcoin too but if the industry ruins the life of some people we should accept the reality.

Here's reality: you either support bitcoin, and accept the idea that there will be noise anywhere close to mining rigs, or you reject bitcoin for this idiotic reason, and consequently show support for the alternative, debt-slavery, war-machine, poverty-generating fiat standard.

Bitcoin mining ruining lives isn't a one way road. If regulators want to permit it they should also support the efforts to regulate it. Think of how nuclear energy production is regulated. If there was no oversight over the waste people would've dying left and right all over the world. We have the technology to build production plants without ruining the lives of residents and the environment. It will cost more but human life and our planet is more valuable...

That's the case in my country. BitFury built huge mining centres in my country and our oligarch has shares of the company. They get electricity for a ridiculously cheap price and consume a lot of it. The government increases electricity prices for us, normal citizens, while BitFury consumes more and more energy every year. They also created a special tax-free zone for them, so they can import anything they wish without paying taxes, while we have to pay them if we want to import something that is worth over $120. I miss old days when you could buy a GPU and generate some profit at home. I also love fair conditions, not unhealthy benefits that these companies get but sadly, money lights up hell.

If this were truly the case, I would not support it in any way. No animal not to talk of humans should be subjected to live and bear such conditions. Although, I support bitcoin mining because of the perks attached to it, if those who operate it don't ensure that their neighbors do not have to suffer from the noise and other environmental impact because they didn't use the materials, then people will turn against. Bitcoin mining can work perfectly well without hurting neighboring communities. If they can't then must find that alternative or otherwise, they should shut down

This is not good, Texas has empty hundreds of miles that they can build their mining facility on, why did they choose to build this one close to where people are living? This is not good, people are already complaining that if kamala was president she won't allow this and that's alot of equipment running 24/7 over there, it's clearly not healthy. Poor people, they are old and older people need the silence in their surroundings, they have to rest and sleep well unfortunately this won't be the case for these old people, this is not acceptable by me, it's not a good thing and I hope these old people families can help stand up for them. They can maybe pay them off to live somewhere else or what? I can't run more than two a Asic miners, I like the power they offer but the noise is something that I can't stand, gone are those golden days where a GPU is enough to mine, even Bitcoin home miners have high noise too.

There's a statistic: Coal-fired mining farms produce 300-400kg of CO₂ per Bitcoin, equivalent to the emissions of a car traveling 2,000 kilometers. However, this also depends on the specific circumstances.

because its next to a electricity generation plant, thats why. the plant was already there so they build the mine next to it. as for the peeps. well sorry but look hearing aids are getting cheaper every day! edit /s just in case

Hmmm, I see your point, although if mining really causes that kind of harm, then it is  not just a minor inconvenience, it is  a serious problem. No human or animal should have to live with constant noise or other environmental issues just because someone wants to run a mining rig. I am all for Bitcoin mining and the benefits it brings, but only when it is done responsibly. The truth is, mining doesn’t have to disturb anyone. With proper soundproofing, renewable energy setups, and choosing the right locations, operators can run their businesses without making life miserable for their neighbors. If they can’t figure that out, then they’re just giving critics more ammo and honestly, in that case, maybe shutting down is the only option left.

guys this has not a single thing to do with btc mining. this is Texas being pro business and anti people. the particular thing they are doing it with is btc mining. tired of bashing on this thread when the op should be saying Texas sucks for letting a big business fuck the town it is in. once again corrupt governments hurting little people for money.