Arkansas Legislature approves cryptocurrency mine study

A legislative committee will be doing a study on controversial cryptocurrency mines.

Also called crypto mines, these are large groups of computers designed to generate cryptocurrency. Recently, several have sprouted up in rural Arkansas communities. Some mines emit loud whining noises because of the fans designed to keep them cool.

By: Josie Lenora
KUAR

A legislative committee will be doing a study on controversial cryptocurrency mines.

Also called crypto mines, these are large groups of computers designed to generate cryptocurrency. Recently, several have sprouted up in rural Arkansas communities. Some mines emit loud whining noises because of the fans designed to keep them cool.

Residents across the state say the mines harm their emotional and physical health. Other research says crypto mines take up large amounts of water and energy.

The Arkansas Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor will be studying “the impact of pollution and depletion of natural resources resulting from the presence of digital asset mining facilities.”

Committee Chair Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, asked for the study. During a Thursday joint committee meeting, she called the mines “a bad actor.”

The legislature passed Act 851 last year which removed many regulations on crypto mines, leading more to spring up across the state. Irvin said when she voted in favor of that bill, she didn't know exactly the impacts the mines could have.

“A lot of us in the legislature really did not have any idea about this industry, about what it would be like as a neighbor in a community,” she said.

Read more here.