The voters of Hood County, Texas, are to vote on an initiative to create a new town called Mitchell Bend in a rural area southwest of Fort Worth. This town would have an approximate size of 2 square miles and contain approximately 600 residents and 250 registered voters. The reasons for this ballot issue are largely due to the noise generated by a cryptocurrency mine operated by MARA Holdings in the area since 2023.
The facility houses nearly 60,000 computers that operate continuously to mine Bitcoin. The operation originally used thousands of cooling fans, though MARA has since replaced 67% of them with a liquid-immersion cooling system. The company also constructed a 2,000-foot-long, 24-foot-tall soundproofing wall around the facility to address community concerns.
While investors increasingly focus on buying and trading traditional digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, meme coins have recently come onto their radars. Despite their humorous origins, meme coins with potential, such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, have attracted significant attention, with their communities growing daily. However, traders get focused on buying and often overlook the physical infrastructure that sustains the broader crypto ecosystem. Behind every major blockchain, particularly established ones like Bitcoin, lies a network of mining operations that consume a lot of energy. These facilities demand vast amounts of power and cooling to keep mining rigs running efficiently, creating operational challenges such as high energy consumption and noise pollution, which are issues now being felt by residents in places like Hood County.
Sound measurements have produced varying results. A third-party study funded by Hood County in October 2024 found noise levels hovering around 60 decibels near the facility and between 35 and 53 decibels in neighborhoods within a mile radius. The study noted it could not confirm the facility was operating in typical fashion during the measurement period. Texas state ordinance allows sound levels up to 85 decibels.
Since Governor Greg Abbott invited the cryptocurrency mining industry to Texas in 2021, following China’s ban on Bitcoin mining, Texas has become the world’s top mining hub. At least 27 Bitcoin mining sites are located in Texas, with the two largest in the world, located in Rockdale and Corsicana. In 2023, all Texas crypto mines consumed about 2,717 megawatts of electricity, enough to power roughly 680,000 homes. That is by far the most for any North American region, with Georgia being the next highest at 525 megawatts.
The industry’s economic impact includes $4 billion contributed to the Texas state economy and approximately 12,000 jobs created last year. Texas holds around 40% of the nation’s crypto investment. The state attracts these operations through abundant land, fewer regulations, attractive tax deals, and cheaper electricity. Unlike some states, Texas does not tax crypto companies’ profits.
MARA Holdings has invested more than $1.2 billion in its Texas sites and operates at least three other crypto facilities in the state. The company has filed a lawsuit against Hood County challenging the legality of the incorporation ballot measure. MARA argues the incorporation effort targets specific businesses with punitive taxes and restrictive ordinances.
The incorporation strategy represents a common approach for rural communities seeking to regulate industrial operations. Texas law grants municipalities the authority to set noise ordinances, while counties lack this power—only the state and incorporated cities can establish such regulations. State lawmakers have debated proposals in past legislative sessions to give counties authority to enact noise ordinances, but have not passed enabling legislation.