Councilwoman Determined to Throw Crypto Mining Out of The City

Cryptocurrencies might not be getting that much attention across the world but regulators in North Carolina have put them alongside important items on the agenda for a meeting in Greenville. The agenda will consist of crypto farms and crypto mining activities in Greenville and Pitt County.

Gaining Fortunes at The Expense of Soul

Greenville-based CBS affiliate WNCT-TV reported that this was the first meeting of the Greenville City Council in 2024. Ordinance Number 22-0-14, which emphasizes regulations associated with cryptocurrencies was the recurring topic during the meeting. The ordinance was ordered in 2022.

District 3 Representative of Greenville, North Carolina, Marion Blackburn, explained in her Facebook post that she requested this issue to be added to the agenda. She advanced with her explanation by highlighting the entry of crypto miner Compute North after being rebuked by Pitt County. Only Councilwoman Monica Daniels voted against the ordinance as mentioned in the post.

However, Blackburn was determined to show the crypto mining industry a way out of the city. She said, “We’re going to say ‘Do we want it at all, do we want to amend it, do we want to keep it as it is? What does the community want and what do we want? I wanted to look at this for our community and to get crypto mining out of here.”

Talking about the crypto mining operations in Greenville, a resident called Bob Hudak explained that it would be wonderful if these operations bring a fortune to the region as Compute North promised. However, he also explained why this would matter if it gains monetary profits at the cost of losing a person’s soul.

North Carolina is among the states where crypto miners are flocking due to low-cost energy and lax zoning regulations as non-profit organization Environmental Working Group highlights. One of the largest crypto miners, Core Scientific, is operating a data center in Cherokee County.

An ABC affiliate WLOS reported in April 2023 that attributing to no zoning near Harshaw Road in Cherokee County, owners can use the land accordingly. Crypto mines typically use high powered mining rigs which are often associated with carbon emissions. Furthermore, every machine requires multiple fans to cool down a mining rig, leading to sound frequencies reaching up to 90 decibels.

In Murphy County, a resident described the sound coming from crypto mines as “a small jet that never leaves.” Sound meters in the Blue Ridge Mountain region recorded frequency in the 55-85 decibels range according to multinational news channel Cable News Network (CNN).

A community native to Cherokee County started a campaign on December 16, 2021, at Change(dot)org, a platform that allows users to raise awareness about social causes, which has received 3,391 signatures at the time of writing. The campaign highlights how the crypto mines are exploiting sustainable life in the region.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.