31 Oct Plattsburgh Turns Back Invasion Of Bitcoin Miners
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Colin Read, the mayor of Plattsburgh, New York, remembers when the cryptocurrency miners came to his small town on the shores of Lake Champlain near the Canadian border.
It was 2016 and the price of a Bitcoin was up to about $20,000, instead of about $6,000 where it is now.
“All of a sudden our city was descended upon,” Read said.
Cryptocurrency mining rigs sit on racks at a facility in Quebec, Canada. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg
The miners, who use hundreds of very fast, power hungry computers to solve the math puzzles that underlie the value of the cryptocurrency – and are then paid in that currency – were drawn to sleepy Plattsburgh because of its cheap electricity.
“We have some of the cheapest indusrial power in the world, 2.7 cents per kilowatt,” Read explained. “They came here for that reason alone. They use a lot of power and employ very few people.”
The cheap power comes from hydroelectric dams on the nearby St….
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