Residents of an Appalachian, North Carolina town say they are being forced out of their homes by a noisy cryptocurrency mine that has sparked petitions and protests.
The facility in Murphy, one of two in Cherokee County, is constantly buzzing with what resident Mike Lugiewicz describes as “a little plane that never leaves.” In September, one mine was described as “more expensive than beef production”.
Sound meters that Lugiewicz ran outside his yard showed the constant noise from stacks of computer servers and cooling fans picking up between 55 and 85 decibels.
‘There’s a racecourse three miles from here,’ said Lugiewicz. – You can hear the cars running. It is wonderful.
“But at least they’re stopping,” neighbor Judy Stines added to CNN. “And you can go to sleep.”
Residents of an Appalachian, North Carolina town say they are being forced out of their homes by a noisy cryptocurrency mine that has sparked petitions and protests.
Bans on crypto by places like China have forced those who want to gather to seek out locations along Appalachia, as electricity is relatively affordable and regulation is generally non-existent in those areas.
A company called PrimeBlock bought a dozen mines in North Carolina as well as Tennessee and Kentucky.
The company, based out of San Francisco, has raised nearly $300 million in equity funding and is likely to go public soon.
Despite a largely Republican and liberal base, the uproar has led residents to demand that their local government do something about it, with the Board of Commissioners recently asking state and federal officials to regulate crypto mining.
“I personally think that if we can get a bill into the system, other (North Carolina) counties will join in,” Chairman Cal Stiles said.
Chandler Song, PrimeBlock’s co-founder and chief innovation officer, said such a regulation would be “unconstitutional at the very least” and said of the locals: “Oh boy, they wanted us so bad a year ago!”
There were plans for PrimeBlock representatives to speak at the Cherokee County Board meeting, but County Commission Chairman Dan Eichenbaum said they decided not to come because someone shot one of the service lines.
Resident Mike Lugiewicz (pictured left) describes the noise as “a small plane that never leaves.”
Crypto bans in places like China have forced would-be collectors to look for locations along Appalachia, as electricity is relatively affordable and regulation is generally non-existent in those areas.
Song has since said he hasn’t heard any complaints from the county, but has promised that PrimeBlock will build soundproof walls and install water-based cooling systems that make noise, the Washington Post reported.
They did, but only on either side of the mine until construction stopped, which only angered the residents more.
Both Song and co-founder Ryan Fang were named to Forbes’ 2017 list of young entrepreneurs who have raised more than $10 million in project funding.
PrimeBlock had revenue of about $25 million and an estimated enterprise value of $1.25 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Despite a largely Republican and liberal base, the uproar has led residents to demand their local government do something about it, with the Board of Commissioners (pictured) recently asking state and federal officials to regulate crypto mining.
Chandler Song, PrimeBlock’s co-founder and chief innovation officer, said such regulation would be “unconstitutional at the very least” and said of the locals: “Man, they wanted us so bad a year ago.”
The song has yet to answer any further questions. DailyMail.com has reached out to a PrimeBlock spokesperson for comment.
The mines, along with winter storms, have been blamed for knocking out power grids built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a rare occurrence in the history of a New Deal-era project. The mine was never closed.
“They shut us down every hour on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for 15 to 45 minutes to an hour,” resident Ron Wright said. “Well, when your power goes down, the heat pumps shut down and the pipes freeze.”
Lugiewicz and Stines are still fighting, but Lugiewicz has put up a for sale sign on his house.
“September 2021, I think, is when they turned this on, and my wife and I just shook our heads, said, “No, we’re out of here.”
Despite promises that PrimeBlock would build noise isolation walls and install water cooling systems that emit sound, they built them on both sides of the mine before the construction was halted, which only further angered the residents.
The mines, along with winter storms, have been blamed for knocking out power grids built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a rare occurrence in the history of a New Deal-era project. The mine never closed
Murphy’s facility made waves in neighboring Clay County, which banned commercial crypto mining last August.
“On environmental impacts, the board found that cryptocurrency mining contributes to climate change, noise pollution, environmental destruction, massive amounts of energy used, including but not limited to electricity,” the decision said.
County Commissioner Clay Logan told the Clay County Progress it was “just common sense.”
Both Change.org and the Sierra Club have launched petitions against the mines.
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