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Re:A Texas Town's Misery Underscores the Impact of Bitcoin M... by kelnos on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @02:08PM (#39292799)
That's not how the law works. It can specifically ban cryptocurrency mining -- after defining what that is -- without impacting other uses.

Not sure I agree with the idea to ban this, though. I think it's a huge waste of time, money, and electricity, but people should be able to do that if they want.

But they should have to pay their fair share for it: penalties for these noise complaints should meaningfully cut into their profit to the point that it would be more cost-effective for them to build proper noise isolation. Electricity prices should be set higher for commercial activity of that kind so local communities aren't harmed, and in places where they aren't mining off renewable energy, the carbon impact of the mining should be accounted for somehow. And we should ensure that these companies are paying their fair share of taxes. I expect the low taxes in Texas is a reason why mining companies like it there, though.

And if paying for these externalities makes mining no longer profitable, that's just the system working as it should.

Re:A Texas Town's Misery Underscores the Impact of Bitcoin M... by philwelch on Thursday February 08, 2024 @01:05AM (#39298811)
> That's not how the law works. It can specifically ban cryptocurrency mining -- after defining what that is -- without impacting other uses.

Politicians pass laws and the internet laughs. The law also supposedly made it illegal to share the hexadecimal number 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 but everyone did it anyway. I’m not a huge fan of cryptocurrency but I am of the old-fashioned opinion that doing math on your own damn computer is a human right, and that fundamentally unenforceable laws are silly.