Crypto Mining Business
VanHalen
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Headline in my local newspaper caught my eye. If interested the article below refers to a location in northeast Iowa.
MANCHESTER, Iowa — An Iowa crypto-mining business is eyeing Manchester as the site for its largest investment yet.
Simple Mining has outlined plans for a new data-mining facility at the Manchester Industrial Park. The site plan calls for 50 8-by-20-foot storage containers that would house computers that run 24 hours a day to solve the algorithmic encryptions needed to “mine” Bitcoin, a form of digital currency that is not dependent on banks or government institutions.
Bitcoin transactions are verified and monitored by independent computers running a secure algorithm to solve blocks of numbers that represent groupings of transactions. These computers race to solve each block with the payout being the next block of bitcoins.
The computers at Simple Mining’s proposed Manchester facility would be new participants in the race. To accommodate the operation, the site plan also calls for 100 cooling buildings, a new electrical substation and a small office space. “We’re setting up infrastructure to be able to run these computers,” Haynes said. “We basically run the infrastructure. We go get the low cost of power … and then we employ the staff who have the knowledge and know-how to keep the machines running.”
Mining facilities in other parts of the state have drawn resident criticism for the sound emitted by the facilities’ cooling fans, although Heims expressed doubt that area residents will have any such issues given its location. “It works for where it’s at because it’s kind of tucked away,” Heims said. Haynes told officials that the Manchester facility would run on a “hydro” system that makes less noise. He also said the mining operations should not cause any health or environmental concerns for area residents.
Crypto-mining operations like Simple Mining’s take a tremendous amount of computing power, which in turn requires massive amounts of energy — raising concerns about environmental sustainability and effects on local power grids. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that cryptocurrency operations consume between 0.6% and 2.3% of total U.S. electricity use, equaling that used by anywhere from three to six million U.S. homes.
To handle the electrical needs of the Manchester facility, Simple Mining is in conversations with Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative to build a new electric substation adjacent to the mining operation. If the project moves forward, the new substation would provide power for current and future electrical needs in the area. “Putting in a new substation like this ensures that we can provide reliable, affordable power as things continue to grow,” she said. Haynes told the Manchester council that Simple Mining operations would be able to temporarily shut down its operations as needed so as not to interfere with power availability during times of high demand.
Comments
It is all about electricity cost.
Waste electricity to create 'Maginary Digits?
Crazy world. SMH!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
My brothers old boss had a warehouse dedicated to mining BTC before he died, power bill in ATL for that was enormous. No clue if his wife/family kept it running but this was maybe 8-10 years ago and it ran for several years 24/7. Server farms aren't cheap to run and keep cold.