An example of a negative externality from Murphy, NC #crypto

From CNN (How the blare of a crypto mine woke up this Blue Ridge Mountain town): 

When Judy Stines first heard about cryptocurrency, “I always thought it was smoke and mirrors,” she said. “But if that’s what you want to invest in, you do you.”

But then she heard the sound of crypto, a noise that neighbor Mike Lugiewicz describes as “a small jet that never leaves” and her ambivalence turned into activism. The racket was coming from stacks and stacks of computer servers and cooling fans, mysteriously set up in a few acres of open farm field down on Harshaw Road.

Once they fired up and the noise started bouncing around their Blue Ridge Mountain homes, sound meters in the Lugiewicz yard showed readings from 55-85 decibels depending on the weather, but more disturbing than the volume is the fact that the noise never stopped. …

Back on Harshaw Road, Mike Lugiewicz pointed to the For Sale sign in front of his house. “September of 2021, I think, is when they turned this on and my wife and I just shook our heads, said, ‘No, we’re out of here.’” He hopes to stay in the area and keep fighting alongside neighbors like Judy Stines until the quiet comes back.

I don’t want to be the guy that always brings the bad news but this house is going to sell at a discount.