cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/37274680

Large-scale cryptocurrency mining operations began popping up across the United States a decade ago. But it was China’s crackdown on miners in 2021, leading many to relocate to the US, that cemented the country’s role as the global hotspot for minting bitcoin. With at least 137 commercial-level facilities across the country, clustered mostly in Texas, the sector uses up to 2.3% of the nation’s grid, according to estimates by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), a government agency that gathers and disseminates statistics on energy use. Whereas Joe Biden had promised to crack down on the industry, Donald Trump wants bitcoin to be “mined, minted and made in the USA”, setting the scene for bitcoin mines to roar louder throughout the rural US in the coming years.

“President Trump and his administration have done a lot to deliver on the promises that they made during the campaign, and we see this industry growing rapidly” Fred Thiel, the CEO of Mara, the world’s largest miner and owner of the 300-megawatt (MW) site in Granbury, told Fox Business in March. “We want to see the US be the dominant bitcoin mining country in the world.” Shortly before that interview, the firm acquired a 354-MW Texan wind farm to power a new mine, and has begun tapping natural gas from oilfields to fuel new facilities.

“They promised to be good neighbors, but so far their noise is constant,” says Dave Simpson, who lives a quarter of a mile from the Wyoming site. The facility is yet to reach full capacity. Simpson worries about how a constant drone will affect his property’s valuation. “I miss the quiet times,” he says.