Seven years ago, Gladys Anderson bought her dream home in Bono, Arkansas. “We moved here to escape the hustle and bustle and noise of the city,” she said. “Just a peaceful, quiet country life.”
But last May, the silence ended when the commotion started. “It felt like torture, like military-level torture,” she said.
It's the sound of 17,000 computer fans at the Bitcoin facility next door.
Neighbor Shane Markson frequently takes decibel measurements. “Eighty-two was the highest number,” he said. [Note, a hair dryer is 90 decibels.]
“My boyfriend has migraines and is having problems with his hearing and blood pressure,” Markson said.
Residents cannot even leave. “I don't know who wants to buy my house or buy my place,” Markson said. “With this kind of noise, you Would you like to live next door to it? ”
Anderson said she has contacted authorities about the noise. “I have spoken with the county judge's office, the county administrator, I have called the governor's office several times, and hundreds of other people have called about this. I know what I've put in,” he said.
When asked why she thought nothing was being done, Anderson said: “Money. Money.”
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and that teeth Money, especially cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is a digital currency without a central bank. Instead, transactions are confirmed by a huge bank of computers run by people called miners. As an incentive to set up these facilities, the system regularly awards miners with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of newly minted Bitcoin.
But all of these computers consume incredible amounts of power and make a lot of noise.
Last year, the state of Arkansas passed what is known as a “mine rights” bill.that prevent Local communities cannot regulate these businesses.
Republican state Sen. Joshua Bryant was the bill's lead sponsor. “We have a business-friendly state,” he said. “We have cheap land. We have affordable power. And that's the perfect combination to be a cheap date for this industry.”
Although Bryant believed Bitcoin mining would be beneficial to the country, there were some unintended consequences. “What we found is that the operators opened their operations in a way that did not provide quiet enjoyment for nearby residents.” He points out that not all Bitcoin implants are noisy.
Ben Smith, an Arkansas Bitcoin miner, talks about mining plants. can It's extremely quiet – cooled by water instead of fans, built far from residential areas, and completely enclosed rather than outdoors. “I think probably half of the sites in Arkansas are owned by bad actors themselves,” Smith said. “It’s all about the design and, let’s be honest, how much money you put into being a good neighbor and a good actor.”
So who is building these cheap, noisy plants? Sen. Bryant says this is a web of Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese government. The New York Times reported that Chinese Bitcoin mines are currently operating in at least 14 states.
However, the invisible hand here is not just the Chinese government. The “right to mine” bill itself was drafted by the Satoshi Action Fund, a Bitcoin advocacy group that is pushing similar bills in at least 12 other states.
At least 50 Bitcoin mining plants are planned for Arkansas, and Sen. Bryant acknowledged the need for amendments to the bill. “We are considering state laws that would eventually require these cryptocurrency operations to be noise-free,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gladys Anderson and her neighbors are filing a lawsuit. “We set up a GoFundMe and also had a raffle,” she said. “We recently sold smoked pork butts.”
Lawyers for the Bono factory said the volume is within zoning limits and said in a statement to “CBS Sunday Morning” that “our client is currently developing design plans to completely enclose the property…in the coming months.” ” he said.
Well, Gladys Anderson wouldn't give up, so she said, “I'm a very stubborn woman and a very contemptible woman.” “I'm going to be just as much of a headache for them because they're based all over the place.”
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Story produced by Amol Maatre. Editor: Mike Levin.
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