People in the US oppose the construction of the world’s largest bitcoin mining facility

In the city of Corsicana in Navarro County, Texas, where bitcoin mining company Riot Blockchain is building the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining facility, local residents have protested over concerns about rising electricity costs.

One of the world’s largest bitcoin mining companies plans to power its facility through a high-voltage power line. The new facility will be 30% larger than the existing mining center in Rockdale and will have a maximum capacity of 1 gigawatt. According to the project documentation, this is enough to power 300,000 to 1 million homes in the United States, and such an investment is an important economic event for the local community.

It is not surprising that the project has opponents. Jackie Savicki, a leader of the protest movement, said: «They announced it as if we should be grateful to them. They are exploiting our resources, and what do we get in return?» Savicki also believes that crypto assets are a Ponzi scheme because «we can’t go to the store and buy something with bitcoins» (which is not true, by the way).

One of the things that worries the group of protesters the most is the amount of water the company uses to cool its equipment at a time when the county often faces droughts. In addition, their concerns include the potential increase in water and electricity bills. The initiative group has organized on Facebook and is promoting their petition to ban the construction of the facility. However, so far they have managed to collect only 635 signatures.