The noise of Bitcoin mining is driving Americans crazy

The relentless "mechanical howl" of a cryptocurrency mining facility has become "the soundtrack to life for hundreds of residents" in Granbury, a small rural town in Texas, said The Guardian.

"It echoes across agricultural land and forests, chasing away deer. It seeps into walls, vibrating bedrooms and dinner tables." One resident said it was as though a "jet engine is forever stationed nearby".

Bitcoin mining has exploded in the US over the past decade, particularly in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election to the White House and his embrace of cryptocurrency. But it's an energy-intensive process: the powerful computers that create and protect the cryptocurrency need fans on the go constantly to cool them down. And across rural, mostly Republican towns, residents are getting sick of the noise – and getting sick, full stop.

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The 'mental and physical' toll

Much of America's Bitcoin mining industry is in Texas, said Time, "home to giant power plants, lax regulation, and crypto-friendly politicians". In Granbury, where Marathon – one of the world's largest Bitcoin holders – has a mine, a group of people are being "worn thin from strange, debilitating illnesses". Some were experiencing fainting spells, chest pains, migraines and panic attacks; others were "wracked by debilitating vertigo and nausea. The mine is causing "mental and physical" health issues, said one ears, nose, and throat specialist based in Granbury. "Imagine if I had vuvuzela in your ear all the time."

Their "singular grievance": the "dull aural hum" of the nearby Bitcoin mining facility, which exceeds legal noise limits every day. Similar medical complaints are being registered near facilities in Arkansas and North Dakota.

While there are not yet any major medical studies on the impact of living near large Bitcoin mines and data centres, scientists are increasingly linking "prolonged exposure to noise pollution with cardiovascular damage".

The political battleground

Bitcoin mining "boomed in the US" partly due to China's "crackdown" in 2021 over environmental concerns, said the BBC. Now at least 137 Bitcoin mines exist across 21 US states, and there are reports of "many more planned", attracted by "record-high cryptocurrency prices and cheap and abundant energy" to power the computers.

Trump said he wants to turn the US into the world's leading crypto-miner, but this has "implications for rural communities". In some places, his crypto-friendly policies are "meeting resistance" from the very voters who "drove his return to the White House".

This conflict between Republican allegiance and Bitcoin resistance is "being played out nationwide", which could spell trouble for Trump's pro-crypto agenda. Officials in Republican-voting areas are "likely to find themselves coming under continued pressure" from local residents who oppose Bitcoin mining expansion. "If this happens, could Trump's crypto dreams be derailed in his own backyard?".

The first legal battles around the health impacts of Bitcoin mining are "bringing home the realities of an industry" that at first glance seemed "removed from the real world".