Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have surged in popularity, but little is known about how this exploding market could take a negative toll on our health.
(Image credit: NurPhoto / Contributor via Getty Images)
In summer 2024, several news outlets chronicled the “nightmarish” impacts Texas communities endured due to the din of noise emanating from nearby cryptocurrency mines.
Residents of these communities reported that the unrelenting noise caused them to experience a range of ailments, including high blood pressure, chest pain and tinnitus. The noise levels of the cryptocurrency mines allegedly reached 72 decibels — well above the 55 dB limit beyond which the World Health Organization (WHO) deems to be increasingly dangerous for public health.
These recent reports have stoked ongoing discussions about the potential health hazards of cryptocurrency mining. In a thinkpiece published Sept. 26 in the journal JAMA, three scientists argue that we are experiencing a “digital oil boom” that could have serious health consequences for everyone — not only the communities that live near mines. This problem extends beyond noise pollution, encompassing health risks associated with increasing energy consumption and accelerated climate change.
Energy-intensive mines
Cryptocurrency, a virtual currency that harnesses the blockchain, uses a network of computers to report transactions between users, which are documented in a digital ledger. The network is decentralized, meaning that it is not controlled or owned by any one person or group, unlike a traditional central bank, for instance. This structure allows users to transfer currency more quickly and cheaply and with less of a paper trail, compared with traditional banking.
Since its advent, cryptocurrency has experienced several bubbles and crashes — however, it still remains popular worldwide, and the cryptocurrency market has now become a multibillion-dollar industry.
The first and arguably most popular type of cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, which was invented in 2009. Bitcoin relies on something called a “proof-of-work” algorithm, a calculation that essentially verifies the accuracy of transactions added to the digital ledger. The process of completing these calculations is very energy-intensive, and it becomes exponentially more difficult over time.
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Consequently, Bitcoin data centers, referred to as “mines,” require more and more energy to function over time. In the U.S. alone, cryptocurrency mining is estimated to represent around 0.6% to 2.3% of all electricity consumption in the country.
The energy-hungry industry could raise communities’ reliance on peaking power plants, meaning power plants that kick in only at times of peak demand, Mary Willis, co-author of the JAMA article and an assistant professor of epidemiology at Boston University, told Live Science.
The problem is that these plants run on fossil fuels. In terms of their direct impacts, these fumes contain air pollutants that can partly drive diseases, such as stroke, heart disease and lung cancer. Historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic communities are most likely to carry the burden of these health impacts, as plants are often built where those communities live.
Beyond harmful air pollutants, higher demands for fossil fuels also increases the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thus escalating climate change.
Bitcoin-mining servers, such as the one pictured above, are both noisy and energy-intensive, and they carry serious ramifications for our health, some scientists argue. (Image credit: MARK FELIX / Contributor via Getty Images)
“Crypto mining uses mostly fossil fuel electricity, which comes from coal and natural gas power plants,” Benjamin Jones, an associate professor of economics at the University of New Mexico who was not involved in the JAMA article, told Live Science in an email.
“These in-turn generate emissions of CO2 and other air pollutants, which contribute to climate change and harm human health,” he said. Such harmful effects include spurring the spread of infectious diseases and the number of deaths tied to extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and major storms.
Blackouts and noise pollution
Another concern is that many cryptocurrency mines are in locations with fragile electrical grids, such as Texas, Willis said. A winter storm in February 2021 caused the states’ power grid to fail and highlighted its precarity.