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Cryptocurrency is making a lot of noise, literally
Seven years ago, Gladys Anderson purchased her dream home in Bono, Arkansas. “We moved here to get away from the chaos of the city and the noise,” she said. “Just peace and quiet, country life.”
But last May the quiet ended when the noise began. “It was like torture, a military-grade form of torture,” she said.
It’s the sound of 17,000 computer enthusiasts in a bitcoin facility nearby.
Neighbor Shane Markuson takes frequent decibel readings. “Eighty-two was the highest number,” he said. [Note, a hair dryer is 90 decibels.]
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“It caused me to have problems with my hearing, blood pressure and my significant other suffering from migraines,” Markuson said.
Residents can’t even leave. “I don’t know who would want to buy my house or buy my place,” Markuson said. “You know, with this kind of noise, would you want to live nearby?”
Anderson said he contacted officials about the noise: “I’ve talked to the county judge’s office, the county administrator, I’ve called the governor’s office several times. And I know hundreds of other people have called to regard”.
Asked why he thought nothing had been done, Anderson replied: “Money. It’s money.”
Noise from an outdoor bitcoin mining operation in Bono, Arkansas has led residents to file a lawsuit. CBS News
And it’s money, specifically cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is a digital currency without a centralized bank. Instead, transactions are confirmed by huge banks of computers, run by people called miners. As an incentive to create these structures, the system periodically rewards miners with freshly minted bitcoins worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But all those computers burn staggering amounts of energy and make a lot of noise.
Last year, Arkansas passed what became known as the “Right to Mine” bill.. It prevents local communities from regulating these operations.
Republican Senator Joshua Bryant was the bill’s primary sponsor. “We have a business-friendly state,” he said. “We have inexpensive land. We have affordable energy. And this is the perfect combination to be an economical fixture for this industry.”
Bryant thought bitcoin mining would be good for the state, but there were some unintended consequences. “What we found was that operators started operating in a way that didn’t give neighbors peace of mind.” He points out that not all bitcoin plants are noisy.
Arkansas Bitcoin miner Ben Smith says mining facilities can be very quiet: cooled by water rather than fans, built away from residential areas, and completely enclosed, rather than outdoors. “I would say about half the sites in Arkansas are owned by bad actors,” Smith said. “It’s all about design and, honestly, how much money are you going to invest to be a good neighbor or a good actor.”
So who is building all those cheap, noisy plants? Senator Bryant says so is a network of Chinese companies, with ties all the way to the Chinese government. The New York Times reports that Chinese bitcoin mines are now active in at least 14 states.
But the Chinese government isn’t the only invisible hand here. The “right to mine” law itself was drafted by a bitcoin advocacy groupTHE Satoshi Action Fundwhich is pushing similar bills in at least 12 other states.
In Arkansas, even Senator Bryant admits that his bill needs fixing. “We are looking at a state law that will ultimately require these crypto operations not to generate noise,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gladys Anderson and her neighbors sue. “We set up a GoFundMe; we did some raffles,” she said. “We recently sold smoked pork butts.”
Lawyers for the Bono plant say the volume is within local limits and said in a statement to “CBS Sunday Morning” that “our client is currently developing design plans to completely enclose the site… within a matter of months “.
Well, good, because Gladys Anderson doesn’t give up: “I’m a very stubborn woman, and I’m a very dismissive woman,” she said. “I’m going to be a big headache for them too, because they’re setting up everywhere.”
Editor’s Note:
An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that “at least 50 bitcoin mining facilities are planned” in Arkansas.
In fact, as of April 14, 2024, when this story first aired, at least 50 Arkansas counties had passed ordinances to limit the sound level emitted by bitcoin mines.
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Story produced by Amol Mhatre. Editor: Mike Levine.
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