A Bitcoin mine moved to a small town in Texas. One by one, the residents fell ill.

“In October 2021, Governor Greg Abbott hosted the lobbying group Texas Blockchain Council at the governor’s mansion. The group insisted that their industry would help the state’s overtaxed energy grid; that during energy crises, miners would be one of the few energy customers able to shut off upon request, provided that they were paid in exchange.”

Incredible. Driving up energy needs to make their fake currency will help the state’s energy grid, because we can then hold the grid hostage until we’re paid.

Why would they pay them, just use the power of the free market and raise the price of electricity (or even just for industrial users like bitcoin miners) when supply is low until they bow out because it’s not profitable and demands matches supply. Weird how the free market is only good when it’s not free, but dominated by monopolists.

Create a post

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community’s icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

  • 1 user online
  • 153 users / day
  • 312 users / week
  • 620 users / month
  • 2.26K users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 3.36K Posts
  • 67.7K Comments
  • Modlog