Washington State has been a haven for crypto miners for some time now thanks to its abundance of hydroelectric power. However, due to a lack of local infrastructure and citizens getting fed up with outsiders entering the close-knit community, several cities and townships are voting to suspend any new crypto mining applications in the area. New York State – another hydroelectric rich state – looks relatively stable for the time being, but other cities could quickly follow Ephrata and vote to block the entry of crypto mining firms.
Locals Getting Fed Up
A lot of the towns and cities that crypto mining farms are heading to in Washington state have relatively small populations. In fact, in these close-knit communities everyone knows everyone. Usually, these communities are very welcoming to new people, but it appears as if locals are beginning to dislike the influx of strangers working for crypto mining firms. This is likely due to the fact that these new residents are working at one of the noisiest businesses in town.
Crypto mining farms emit a huge amount of noise, and while measures are taken to reduce this, they are still rather loud operations. Over in Ephrata – the first city in the state to say no to more crypto mining – citizens have said that it sounds like they live near the ocean due to the huge amount of noise coming from these mining farms. Locals have grown tired of this noise, as they want their peaceful, sleepy cities back – and quite frankly you can’t really blame them.
Washington State Fights Back
Counties in Washington State started their revolt against the crypto mining industry by hiking up power costs for mining firms. Yet this generated minimal impact, as mining crypto in Washington State is still cheaper than a number of other countries around the world. Eventually, a number of counties began pausing power applications from crypto mining firms. Ephrata is the first city in the state to totally ban all new crypto mining activities, and it will likely not be the last either.
It’s Time to Head to Texas
Texas is once again pumping oil out of the ground at an incredible rate, with many believing that the oil boom is back. However, extracting oil releases a lot of natural gas that oil companies don’t have a use for, so it’s largely burned away. Rather than wasting it, this natural gas could be sold to crypto mining firms as a cheap fuel for power. This would then make Texas one of the cheapest places to mine cryptos in the world – and there would be a lot less natural gas being wasted.
Trump’s Plan is Going to Pot
US President Donald Trump is still at odds with the Chinese and is specifically looking for a way to stop the Chinese from having so much power over the Bitcoin network. As it stands, China has the power to cripple Bitcoin from a number of different angles, but Trump is actively looking for a way to disarm the Far East superpower. To begin with, Trump began by increasing import tariffs on Chinese crypto mining hardware. This is designed to force crypto mining firms to buy local hardware and stop sending USD to China. This is bumping up the price for crypto miners, meaning the low cost of power is more important than ever before. In addition to this, the Trump administration is looking towards backing a cryptocurrency that can’t be mined. Unfortunately for the crypto world, the administration is leaning towards Ripple.
If more cities across the country decide to follow Ephrata’s crypto mining ban then the American crypto mining industry could be under serious threat. While local residents do have a point, they need to examine the benefits that these firms bring to the towns. Crypto mining is more than noise, it powers a global industry and opens up the potential for new jobs in a rapidly growing sector.
